January 2021

TOP DOCTORS 2021

ALIVE & THRIVE 10 WAYS TO GET YOUR SWE AT ON

15 WHO

LOCAL ARE WAY

INFLUENCERS CHANGING WE

LIVE

THE

Get to Know Our Doctors

Noel Williams, MD Gynecologist

Optimal Health Associates is an integrated medical practice focused on wellness and personalized treatment strategies for complex hormonal and gynecological issues. As the community experts in hormone therapy, the clinic has vast expertise in handling menopausal and testosterone depletion in both men and women. Optimal Health Associates and its providers have particular interest in providing holistic natural approaches when possible to medical conditions. This includes nutrition, hormones, stem cell derived therapies and many others all based on the best science available.

Benjamin J. Barenberg, MD Urogynecologist

Urogynecology is a sub-specialty of OBGYN that focuses on complex surgical gynecology and disorders of the pelvic floor. I chose this specialty of gynecology because I am able to directly and quickly improve the quality of life of my patients by utilizing cutting edge therapies and surgical techniques that are not commonplace in general gynecology.

I tailor medical, surgical, and alternative complementary therapies for each of my patients. I strive to maintain patient centered care by using shared decision making with my patients when treating their medical concerns.

Cassie Smith, MD Endocrinologist

Endocrinology is the study of all glands that secrete hormones. I practice endocrinology because of its complexity, and my fascination with human physiology. Understanding how hormones work with or against one another throughout the body helps provide superior patient care. My favorite part about endocrinology is helping patients understand their disease processes, and then providing them with the knowledge, resources, and treatments they need to help them live their best lives.

Comprehensive, complex and compassionate healthcare for both women and men.

Call to schedule an appointment. Telemed appointments available.

405.715.4496 | OptimalHealthAssociates.com 9800 Broadway Ext, Ste. 200, Oklahoma City

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RACHEL WATERS

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Sphere of Influence

Get Physical

The 405’s Top Docs

A Long Year

A look at local influencers who

10 ways to move your

Healthcare professionals

Frontline health workers

are shaping our opinions

body ... even when you

name their picks for the

share their experiences

don’t want to

best of the best

with COVID-19 405MAGAZINE.COM

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Home 62 ENTERTAINING 101 Here’s to 2021: Toasting the new year 63 AT HOME WITH A meandering journey through the art world for Factory Obscura’s Sara Cowan 64 DESIGN Matt and Emily Thompson’s Crown Heights home combines tasteful design with kid-friendly concepts

Out & About In the 405

Dining

14 FASHION Makeup tips for a dewy, natural look

56 GOOD TASTE Pete Holloway on Cafe 501’s decades of good food

16 WHAT’S ONLINE A look at social media in the 405

58 THE DISH Healthy tweaks turn dining from mundane to fabulous

17 TRENDING Style and fashion worth trying in January 18 PERSON OF INTEREST Bob Blackburn bids adieu to Oklahoma Historical Society 19 GIVING BACK Santa Fe Family Life Center offers exercise for people of all abilities 4

JANUARY 2021

70 ROAD TRIP Navigating Houston, Texas’s most diverse and eclectic city 72 ARTS & CULTURE OKCMOA exhibition showcases kinetic art 76 PRIME PICKS Best bets for entertainment in January

59 THE DRINK Grey Sweater’s Thomas Upshaw takes patrons on a cocktail journey

77 ONE MORE THING Googie style makes a comeback at Classen Inn

59 78 LOOKING BACK O N T H E C OV E R Runners take advantage of the trails in Oklahoma City’s Scissortail Park.

Photo by Matt Payne

80 LAST LAUGH

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JANUARY 2021

VOLUME 7 • NUMBER 1

OWNER | PUBLISHER

Jordan Regas jordan.regas@405magazine.com V I C E P R E S I D E N T

Kaley Regas kaley@hilltopmediagroup.com E D I T O R I N C H I E F

Melissa Mercer Howell melissa.mercerhowell@405magazine.com ART DIRECTOR

Christopher Lee christopher.lee@405magazine.com MANAGING EDITOR

Brandon King brandon.king@405magazine.com PRODUCTION MANAGER

Emiley Sexton emiley.sexton@405magazine.com STYLE EDITOR

Sara Gae Waters saragae.waters@405magazine.com T R AV E L E D I TO R

SPRING NEW ARRIVALS coming soon!

Matt Payne matt.payne@405magazine.com SENIOR WRITER

Greg Horton greg.horton@405magazine.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Christine Eddington, Evie Klopp Holzer, George Lang, Linda Miller, Lauren Roth CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Lexi Hoebing, Rachel Maucieri, Charlie Neuenschwander, Matt Payne, Bailey Rucker, Rachel Waters, Shevaun Williams

JOIN THE CONVERSATION Follow 405 Magazine on Facebook and @405Mag on Instagram and Twitter

Story Ideas and Letters to the Editor Your views and opinions are welcome. Include your full name, address and daytime phone number and email to editor@405magazine.com. Letters sent to 405 Magazine become the magazine’s property, and it owns all rights to their use. 405 Magazine reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity.

baby & toddler clothing & accessories Volume 7 / Number 1, 405 Magazine (periodicals 21350) is published monthly,

7636 N Western Ave, Nichols Hills, Oklahoma 73116 • 405.242.3555 @swaddle_okc • Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm

12 times a year, by 405 Magazine, Inc., 1613 North Broadway Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73103. Periodicals postage paid at Oklahoma City, OK and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 405 Magazine, P.O. Box 16765, North Hollywood, CA 91615-6765.

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JANUARY 2021

JANUARY 2021

VOLUME 7 • NUMBER 1

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING

Cynthia Whitaker-hill cynthia.whitakerhill@405magazine.com DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Drew Smith drew.smith@405magazine.com ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Aubrey Jernigan ads@405magazine.com

Oklahoma

CONGRATULATIONS

to the 7th Annual Impact Awards Finalists!

As with most events, this year’s Impact Awards will look a little different than normal. ULI Oklahoma will be celebrating the finalists with an online, week-long, promotional event starting January 4th. Then, the winners in each category will be announced on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram throughout the week starting February 1st. Follow along both weeks using the hashtag #ULIOKimpact.

READER SERVICES

405 Magazine 1613 N. Broadway Oklahoma City, OK 73103 Phone 405.842.2266 Fax 405.604.9435 info@405magazine.com, 405magazine.com BACK ISSUES

Back issues are $9.50 (includes P&H) each.

For back issue availability and order information, please contact our office.

BULK ORDERS

Outstanding Community Building Effort: 16th Street Saturdays, Pivot Tiny Homes, The Musical Swings Outstanding Public Initiative: Capps Middle School, City Hall Sessions, Guymon Downtown Corridor Plan

For multiple copy order information, please contact our office.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

405 Magazine is available by subscription for $14.95 (12 issues), $24.95 (24 issues) or $34.95 (36 issues).

SUBSCRIPTION CUSTOMER SERVICE

Boutique Development: Classen Inn, Make Ready, Sunnyside Diner Small Scale Development: 71 squared, Boulevard, Park17 Large Scale Development: Classen16, Heartland Headquarters, The Bower Small Scale Rehabilitation & Restoration: 400 N Walnut Ave, Bradford House, The Cathedral of our Lady of Perpetual Help Philanthropic Vision: Girl Scout Camp Trivera

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405 Magazine Volume 7, Number 1, January 2021. 405 Magazine is published

Distinguished Merit Award: Oklahoma State Capitol Restoration Project

monthly by 405 Magazine, Inc. at 1613 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City, OK 73103,

Finalists for each of the categories were selected from an open nomination by ULI members. Projects completed in the broader Oklahoma City metropolitan area within the last two years were eligible for nomination.

Reproduction of 405 Magazine content, in whole or part by any means, without

405.842.2266. ©Copyright 2021 405 Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. the express written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited. 405 Magazine is not responsible for the care of and/or return of unsolicited materials. 405 Magazine reserves the right to refuse advertising deemed detrimental to the community’s best interest or in questionable taste. Opinions expressed in

About ULI Oklahoma

this magazine are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of

The mission of the Urban Land Institute is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. With over 400 members statewide, ULI Oklahoma brings together people in every sector of real estate development and land use to exchange best practices, by exploring issues of urbanization, land use, and sustainable development.

ownership or management. Basic annual subscription rate is $14.95. U.S. single-

For more information, please visit oklahoma.uli.org.

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JANUARY 2021

copy price is $4.95. Back issues are $9.50 each

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FROM THE EDITOR

And Don’t Come Back s we begin our recovery from the weirdest year, well … perhaps ever, it may be time to take a deep breath and put that sucker firmly in the rearview mirror where it belongs.

To that end, I’ve combed the internet for the funniest, snarkiest phrases, memes and comments about 2020 that I could find.

Nothing like a chuckle at the end of a horror film to signal that it’s time to roll the credits. Here’s the Top 10:

A

10. On average, a panda feeds for approximately 12 hours per day.

This is the same as an adult at home under quarantine, which is why we call it a “pandemic.”

9. Due to recent cutbacks, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

8. I’m not buying a 2021 planner until I see the trailer.

7. When all this is over, we’ll need to wear our masks backward for three or four weeks to get our ears back to normal.

6. You say, “bathrobe.” I say, “casual wrap dress.” Let’s not get caught up in semantics.

5. New for Christmas 2020: Quarantine Barbie!

4. So, in retrospect, not a single person in 2015 got the answer right to, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

3. Day 7 of social distancing: Struck up a conversation with a spider today. Seems nice. He’s a web designer.

2. LMFMO: Laughing my freakin’ mask off 1. The officer said, “You’re staggering.” I said, “You’re quite handsome yourself.” We just laughed and laughed. I need bail money.

And for you single guys and gals, kick off 2021 with a full inventory of pick-up quips that showcase your whimsy while reflecting the times.

2020’s top pick-up lines: If COVID-19 doesn’t take you out, can I?

The collective experience of the last nine months has ranged from inconvenience and irritability to tragedy and sorrow, but none of us has gone untouched by these events. On a lighter note, the start of the new year presents the opportunity to reinvent oneself. By improving on what was before, we can see the new possibilities with a clear vision. This mentality was what sparked inspiration in our design team to make some cosmetic changes to our look. In this issue, we are introducing the new, modern look for 405 Magazine.

Our gratitude goes to our art director, Christopher Lee, for making our polished, updated aesthetic. Though our efforts are collaborative, Christopher’s in-depth planning and artistic insights made our reimagining a reality. This new logo represents the vibrancy, enthusiasm and sophistication of Oklahoma City’s city and lifestyle magazine.

We at 405 are thrilled to still be here to keep sharing the highlights of our community with you, and we thank you for continuing to read along.

With any luck, 2021 will be a significantly better year. Here’s hoping!

Since all the public libraries are closed, I’m checking you out instead.

You can’t spell “virus” without U and I. Baby, do you need toilet paper? Because I can be your Prince Charmin.

Without you, my life is as empty as the supermarket shelf.

AND … Is that hand sanitizer in your pocket or are you just happy to be within 6 feet of me?

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JANUARY 2021

Melissa Mercer Howell EDITOR IN CHIEF

405.330.4554 | 1951 S. Broadway, Edmond, OK 73013 | edmondfurniture.net

New Year New You Let’s put 2020 behind us.

Start fresh with a new smile this year!

405.844.6333 coffeecreekfamilydentistry.com 2600 Tayler Street Edmond, OK 73003

405MAGAZINE.COM

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Physicians Optical

In the 405 On the Right Side of History

CHARLIE NEUENSCHWANDER

Bob Blackburn is leaving his position at the helm of the Oklahoma Historical Society, a legacy spanning four decades in service to Oklahoma and its past. Page 18

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IN THE 405

Skin prep is essential for good makeup results. Start with moisturizer, eye cream and lip balm.

Go foundation free if possible. If not, spot treat blemishes with concealer or opt for a lightweight, sheer foundation.

Blush and highlighter give cheeks a radiant glow. Powder or cream highlighter can be applied anyplace on the face for a bit of shine.

Keep lids, lashes and brows simple. Opt for a neutral or pastel eyeshadow, a coat of mascara and softly defined brows.

An Expert Makeup Breakdown Local pro Sharon Tabb’s advice for the perfect “no-makeup makeup” look B Y L I N D A M I L L E R | P H O T O S B Y S H E VA U N W I L L I A M S

o long, 2020. Let’s greet the new year with a fresh look. Heavy, dramatic makeup holds little appeal these days, and neither does a bare face. What’s enticing is a softer approach that focuses on dewy, luminous cheeks that glow and reflect light.

“No-makeup makeup” is how the look is often described. It’s not product-free as one might assume, but it does require less mirror time and can easily be enhanced for those who prefer a bit more definition on the lips or eyes.

Oklahoma City makeup artist Sharon Tabb is a fan of the look, and offered a step-by-step tutorial. She grew up in Oklahoma, works in film, commercial and print, and has put her touch on countless celebrities, including Selena Gomez, Harrison Ford, America Ferrera, Mario Lopez, Laurence Fishburne, Yoko Ono, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kathy Ireland and Russell Crowe.

Any successful makeup look, even a natural one, should begin with skin care or skin prep, Tabb said. That includes lips, too. “I really want to emphasize skin care,” she says. It’s the basis for easy product application and favorable results. The three musts are lip balm, facial moisturizer and eye cream.

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Then comes foundation. If the face is blemish-free, consider skipping foundation, she said. If not, just spot-treat blemishes with concealer. For those who insist on using foundation, less is more. Try a BB cream or a sheer, lightweight foundation. “I think skin should look like skin,” Tabb says, and added that she’s tired of all the overly made up looks on Instagram.

Heavy, overdone makeup is rarely flattering. For a more natural look, she also suggested mixing a dab of foundation and moisturizer together to give the skin radiance. Those who usually set their makeup with translucent powder should opt for just a soft dusting.

Blush and shimmer come next. A common mistake is putting blush too close to the nose, Tabb said. Keep it about two finger widths away from the nose. She suggests women smile and apply blush on the apples of cheeks.

Apply highlighter, either cream or powder formula, just above the blush.

She suggests smiling and applying highlighter where you see a lift in the cheeks. It can extend a little closer to the eyes, but the simplest application is to keep it above the cheeks only.

FA S H I O N

A swipe of clear or pink gloss gives the lips a pretty shine.

The “no-makeup makeup” look focuses on luminous skin that reflects light. Dot Be ruffle blouse and Gemelli earrings from Cayman’s in Norman.

When it comes to highlighter, powder is easier for many to use, but cream is a better option for those with dry skin, she said.

Creams tend to give a realistic flush. Practice to get the right look and blend, blend, blend. Glow oils are another alternative.

To bring more emphasis to the eyes, powder highlighter also can be applied under the brow bone for a wide-eyed look and at the inner corner of the eyes to brighten any darkness.

Or try a touch in the center of the eyelid to add even more brightness and along the bridge of the nose. Add highlighter almost anyplace on the face for a desired glow.

Eyelids, brows and lashes don’t need a lot of attention.

Instead of dark eyeshadows, opt for a swipe of a pretty pastel or soft neutral, then fill in brows lightly with a brow pencil for definition. Tabb prefers a gentle arch rather than a sharp, dramatic one. Mascara is a given for most women; keep it simple with one coat.

And, finally, do not forget the lips. They should already be moisturized with lip balm so finish this softer, less-makeup approach with clear gloss or one with a shiny pink or peach tint that plays into that luminous, radiant all-over look.

Photography: Shevaun Williams Makeup and hair: Sharon Tabb Model: Malezhia Bell-Allen, Tabb Agency

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IN THE 405

W H AT ’ S

BEST SHOT

@ A N D R E W _ G _ I M AG E

A R E YO U F O L L OW I N G us on Instagram? We post daily content from the magazine, as well as news and events happening in the 405. You can also tag us in your Best Shots of the 405 by using hashtag #your405

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O N L I N E

T R E N D I N G

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

BY EMILE Y SE X TON

1

2

3

5

4

6

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T R E N D S C O M E A N D G O, but animal print is forever. Not only can a bold cheetah print make a statement, it’s a sign of power. In ancient times, kings, queens and hunters believed wearing these prints could give them the power of that animal. Even if not everyone believes that holds true today, the attitude of confidence is a welcome mindset going into the new year.

1. Leopard Swivel Ottoman, Henry Home Interiors 2. Barefoot Dreams Blanket, Cayman’s Clothiers 3. Roselle Tiger Striped Coat, Anthropologie 4. Ronny Kobo Estelle Dress, Gretta Sloane 5. Assouline Cartier Book, Cayman’s Clothiers 6. Sanctuary Pleated Skirt, rosegold 7. Golden Goose Superstar sneaker, rosegold

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IN THE 405

P E R S O N

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I N T E R E S T

A New Era for Oklahoma History OHS director Bob Blackburn looks back, and ahead B Y B R A N D O N K I N G | P H O T O B Y C H A R L I E N E U E N S C H WA N D E R

hile working on a master’s degree in 1974, Bob Blackburn made an minor, yet significant, decision to peruse the research collections at the Oklahoma Historical Society for an article he was writing.

Blackburn, now the agency’s director, recalls the encounter as a fateful one. “That was the first time I used the collections for research, including newspapers on microfilm, oral histories, biographical files and photographs,” Blackburn says. “I mention it because that started my association with the OHS, first as a customer then as a contractor and finally as an employee and agency director.”

What was nearly 50 years ago seems like yesterday to Blackburn as he prepares for the next chapter of his life. After 41 years of preserving, collecting and sharing Oklahoma history as the state’s foremost historian and executive director of the OHS, Blackburn will retire on Jan. 15 at the age of 69.

“I always knew retirement would be coming, but the timing had to be right,” Blackburn says. “That’s why I feel so good about retirement now. My efforts and the efforts of others, dedicated to the single cause of preserving and presenting Oklahoma history, gave us the momentum to keep our mission alive and going.”

Trait Thompson, former project manager for the Oklahoma Restoration Project, was chosen after a yearlong search to succeed Blackburn. Thompson will report for duty on Jan. 5.

Blackburn has been synonymous with the OHS since 1979. His first position was editor for the society’s scholarly publication, “The Chronicles of Oklahoma.” A decade later, he was promoted to deputy director – a period Blackburn credits as a time when the organization’s “accepted mediocrity” was challenged. Through extensive efforts both internally and through legislation, Blackburn saw the potential service OHS could provide in telling the state’s history through multiple lenses and in multiple locations.

When Blackburn became executive director in 1999, he focused on what he calls the “entrepreneurial business plan,” a still-operational initiative focusing on higher standards, partnerships and diversity. This model provided the foundation for what the modern OHS became, including the design of the current 215,000-squarefoot facility with a $61 million budget, and much more.

A consideration not lost on the outgoing executive director is the legacy he leaves behind. Blackburn knows Thompson will face comparisons and a list of new challenges, but he understands that obstacles act as stepping stones in the right direction.

“We don’t need another Bob Blackburn. We need change. Studying Oklahoma history made me the optimist I am today,” Blackburn says. “What gives me hope is knowing how far we’ve come as a society through efforts like the Teacher Walkout of 2018 or the Black Lives Matter movement. If we can understand each other and our past, then maybe we can keep progressing toward something better for us all.”

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Bob Blackburn, 69, poses for a studio portrait.

His successor, Trait Thompson, will assume Blackburn’s role on Jan. 5.

G I V I N G

B A C K

Fitness for All Redefining obstacles at Santa Fe Family Life Center

BY BR ANDON KING

illis Washington grew up in Oklahoma City’s North Highland neighborhood, less than two blocks away from a privately-owned center called the Santa Fe Fitness & Racquet Club. In 2007, the facility was donated and rededicated as the Santa Fe Family Life Center — a nonprofit community health center, providing opportunities for disadvantaged youth, people with disabilities, and other members of the metro.

“It’s hard to pin down what the center is because it has so many purposes,” Washington says. “As a gym or a community center, their outreach isn’t limited to those you would consider able-bodied; they also appeal to seniors and people with disabilities. At this point in my life, my disability is the reason why I’m so interconnected with Santa Fe.” Washington was injured in a motorcycle accident over a decade ago, leaving him permanently immoble from the waist down.

The Santa Fe Family Life Center — SFFLC for short — quickly made Washington an advocate for the center’s renovation and inclusivity efforts. One of the people Washington convinced to donate funds to the center was Jack Werner, an accessibility trainer for the National Association of Home Builders.

W

Renovations from 2007 to 2010 provided the 55,000-square-foot facility with amenities including multiple basketball and tennis courts, two swimming pools, weight rooms, etc., all up to code with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Sports like basketball, pickleball, swimming, yoga, tennis, Zumba classes, adaptive sports and more have become part of the center’s appeal.

Investment turned to engagement as Werner began exercising at the center with Washington. The SFFLC works with over 25 nonprofits, the Oklahoma Veterans Affairs and OKASA — the Oklahoma Adaptive Sports Association — for the numerous athletics and fitness programs designed to promote physical and mental health for attendees.

“I’m really sold on accessibility for all,” says Werner, who became an A.D.A. inspector due to his affiliation with the SFFLC. “Being in the Army Rangers in Vietnam, I appreciate those who appreciate our veterans. Typically, we don’t appreciate those who lost arms and legs, those who came back paralyzed. I’m heavily involved in that stuff. For that and more, the SFFLC is something I’ll always support.”

The center’s core mission is to improve the health of the community, according to

James Timberlake, executive director for the SFFLC. On Mar. 17, the SFFLC closed its doors due to the pandemic surging throughout the country; however, the overall goal never wavered.

“We didn’t want to forgo our mission, so we partnered with St. Anthony Hospital and utilized our downstairs area, staff and volunteers into a mask and face shield production facility,” Timberlake says. In five weeks, they produced over 7,000 face shields and masks. “We’re blessed to have the resources and partners to serve those in the disadvantaged and disabled communities who are typically under-served.”

On May 4, the center reopened under reservation and timed sessions. Despite the struggles of the new normal, people like Willis Washington continue to look to the center for hope, health and a sense of belonging.

“There’s always room for improvement, but something like the Santa Fe Life Center is a real change in the right direction,” Washington says. “My hope would be that for something like Santa Fe to happen in every community, so everyone can have a place to be.”

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PHOTOS PROVIDED

The Santa Fe Family Life Center offers adaptive sports – including basketball and tennis – for people with disabilities.

The Santa Fe Family Life Center offers classes for people with all abilities.

Best Boost T H E

O F

T H E

Following the 405’s Finest Influencers

20

SPEAKING OF THE CONKLIN CRESCENT

ities or marketing professionals, but as people who just love some-

fountain pen, Mark Twain said in an endorsement: “I prefer it

thing enough to want other people to love it, too. However, some

because it is a profanity saver; it cannot roll off the desk.” The

professionals also are influencers, and their power is felt both in

famously irascible Twain – who else could think of saving up pro-

their industry and by consumers, so we decided to look at both.

fanities? – is believed by many scholars of business to be the first

The influential folk here are not meant to be a comprehensive

celebrity endorser. That means that we can at least take comfort

list, but we do believe they represent the categories well – we

in knowing that influencers are not a new plague. In fact, like

follow their accounts, as do professionals in the industries they

Twain, many endorse things they love, and they do so without

cover. We intentionally avoided self-proclaimed influencers who

guile or payment.

purchased followers; it’s organic growth only for us.

In the early ’00s, the growth of social media influencers began,

The influencer game has undergone some changes during COVID

and it didn’t take long for the industry to recognize the value of

– especially the food, booze and entertainment categories – but

“regular people” who were evangelists for products they loved, as

they’re not going away. Businesses are learning to identify those

opposed to celebrities who required generous paychecks. For our

who have actual influence, as measured by engagement, not just

“Best Influencers” we wanted to focus on people who attempt to

numbers, and wise business owners have learned to incorporate

influence the public, not from favored positions as media personal-

them as one prong in a marketing strategy.

JANUARY 2021

TRAVEL & LEISURE

BY BRANDON KING

THE PROTO-INFLUENCER

EDDIE RADOSEVICH

AMANDA MARTIN

@AMANDASOK

Stumble across any scenic view in the state and you’re bound to have walked in the path of local travel and lifestyle influencer Amanda Martin. A self-described dog lady and coffee snob, Martin started becoming an influencer by writing a blog about making a home in Oklahoma City after college. Since then, her captivating photos and engaging content have featured foreign and domestic parts of the world, all while representing Oklahoma with an infectious smile on her Instagram page.

“Writing my blog eight years ago, I made it to show people new places. I felt it was cool to experience something different,” Martin says. “I’ve traveled all over since then, but I’m back where it all started, and it’s sparked some ideas on local, safe places to travel for special day trips.”

@EDDIE_RADO

We begin with influence in its purest form: Eddie Radosevich.

The University of Oklahoma graduate was 2020’s Best Influencer in this magazine, thanks largely to his following on KRXO (The Franchise sports radio) and his philanthropic efforts in Horns Up For Peace, a group that seeks to bridge misunderstanding resulting from the misuse of Texas University’s “horns up” hand gesture.

“Other influencers are important, but I don’t know how many are out here saving lives like we are with Horns Up For Peace,” Radosevich says.

Not one to be locked into categories, Radosevich earned a degree in journalism, and he’s serious about his influence on the radio. “I like the idea of mentioning a local restaurant and having people eat there,” he says. “I’m still getting used to it, but I really do intend to be taken seriously as a journalist, and I guess now, as an influencer.”

NICKY OMOHUNDRO @LILFAMADVENTURE

“No Child Left Inside” is the mantra held by the Little Family Adventure, a travel and family-oriented Instagram

by Nicky Omohundro. As a local mother of three, Omohundro’s mission is to inspire families to be active together by experiencing new adventures and traveling the world.

STEVE AND ANN TEGET @POSTCARDJAR

Steve and Ann Teget are the minds behind Postcard Jar – an inspirational travel blog telling authentic stories while exploring vast areas of the world with an Oklahoma eye.

Their travel tips and insights into health and wellness make this Instagram follow a must.

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MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT

BY GEORGE L ANG

FERRIS O’BRIEN

@FERRISOBRIEN

TheSpyFM.com program director Ferris O’Brien has worked for three decades to help Oklahoma listen better – or, at least, listen to better music.

Through various forms, from a low-power Stillwater station in the 1990s through The Spy’s current partnership with KOSU-FM, O’Brien continues his efforts to illuminate great music, whether it was made in south London or south Oklahoma City.

Through his social media, O’Brien helps promote not just the music on his station, but his world view. He believes in the sanctity of @freemomhugs, the gospel of Morrissey and the need to congregate in music venues – but only after COVID-19 is dispatched to the annals of history.

“I think we all want to make some sort of impact, and hopefully that helps generate interest in who or what we are,” O’Brien says.

PHI NGUYEN

JABEE

@IMGLADIGOTYOU

Public Enemy’s Chuck D praised rapper Jabee as being part of a long lineage of Oklahoma lyricists who speak to society’s ills with unflinching honesty, telling the Oklahoma Gazette in 2016 that, “The tie between Woody Guthrie and Jabee is not as distant as people think.”

While he enjoys the plaudits of great hip-hop minds including Chuck D and Run the Jewels, Jabee is more than a man of his word(s). He is a check on power in Oklahoma, a fierce defender of people with no voice. When he staged a one-person show that chronicled his time as a homeless preteen, the loss of his brother to gun violence and his rise as a unique voice in midwestern hip-hop, OKC Mayor David Holt praised Jabee on Twitter.

“We loved ‘Jabee: The Life & Times’ tonight. I’m proud that Jabee’s voice belongs to OKC,” Holt tweeted.

“I post what I believe and what’s true to me, I’m not always right and people don’t always agree with me or understand, but I think that’s what makes it real though, and honest,” Jabee says.

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@TAKEABITEOK

Originally a supper club among friends, Take A Bite OKC has morphed into the best food Instagram in the city. Phi Nguyen is the driver, but she shares the frame with her supper club comrades. A combination of great photography, timeliness, genuine engagement with locavores and a commitment to posters spending their own money in bars and restaurants makes this Instagram account a “must follow.”

“The goal was to share food and cocktails with my friends, and over the past two years, owners and managers have reached out to try to get us to be a part of openings or promotions,” Nguyen says. “I love that, but I also want the account to remain true to the kinds of food my friends and I eat.”

ARTS & CULTURE

BY CHRISTINE EDDINGTON

NICOLE POOLE

@WORDSMIFF405

Nicole Poole is a chalk bomber, sound painter, world traveler and the recipient of the 2020 Inspirational Influencer Paseo Arts Award. Follow her on Instagram, or even better, stroll around OKC’s Edgemere Park to see her work IRL. She’s the daughter of venerable Oklahoma artist O. Gail Poole, who inspired generations of Oklahoma artists with his talent and humor. She described her shenanigans to a local newspaper recently: “Ah, it’s just joy. It’s that delightful disruption that just makes me so happy. That’s my love language.”

FOOD & BOOZE

BY GREG HORTON

KAYLA COFFEY AND ANNA FARHA @LOCALITESOKC

Kayla Coffey and Anna Farha are the Localites, two consumers of local culture committed to showcasing all that is great about OKC. They have a podcast and an Instagram account, and they’re not constrained to one genre; they cover food, drink, retail, business openings, events, etc., with wit, insight and access.

GENESIS BROWN

@GENESISAPPROVED

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Miami (the real one), Genesis Brown showcases off-the-beaten-path eateries around the metro – especially the Latin/Hispanic foods her Cuban mother taught her to appreciate and she learned to love growing up in south Florida.

KRIS AND KATE KETTNER @BARRELSANDMASH

Kris and Kate Kettner (married, not siblings) started Barrels and Mash as a blog and then added an Instagram account.

They met when Kris worked at Joe’s Place Liquor in Norman, and they both possess a deep and broad understanding of beer and whiskey, including cocktails. Self-taught, they learned from reading, tasting and booze tourism (e.g., The Bourbon Trail).

SARA JAMES

@WHOORL

Following Whoorl is calming for me. She, her terrific bangs and her nearly 23,000 Instagram followers are all about clean, everyday beauty – and lately she’s been putting some politics out there. Ask her what she thinks of Victory Church Tulsa’s recent multi-thousand, maskless superspreader gathering, or just look at her ‘Insanity’ Instagram story button. How she describes herself: “I’m Sarah – a wife, mother, writer and lover of beauty, inside and out. I recently relocated with my husband, 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter from the beaches of Southern California to Oklahoma, where, indeed, the wind comes sweeping down the plain.” Bonus points: she’s been featured in a Pantene shampoo commercial.

ALLY NORIEGA

@ALLYSONINWONDERLAND

She’s like the super-cute next-door neighbor you wish you had. Ally Noriega is genuine and approachable, and will help you navigate trends and find the best sales. She’s not shy about sharing the “real” side of being a new mom, and is refreshingly self-deprecating. Says she, “This blog is my visual style story that showcases what to wear and where to wear it. The whimsical name comes from my nickname as a child. My goal is to expose readers to unique and accessible fashion ideas, dreamy places and new beauty products to help inspire them on their own style journeys.”

FASHION & WELLNESS

BY CHRISTINE EDDINGTON

AUBREY BALLARD @THEDANDYLIAR

Aubrey Ballard has a kooky yet sophisticated eye. She’s equal parts Anna Wintour and Grey Gardens, in the best possible way.

You might find her rocking some granny-chic, vintage couture or in a little number she picked up at Goodwill. Regardless, she’ll look smashing and will inspire you to quit being so serious and practical in your clothing choices, for goodness’ sake! Oversized tie-dyed Bermuda short?

Yes. Four or five floral patterns together?

OF COURSE! She gazes straight into the camera, calm-eyed and glossy. Ballard spent a decade in the fashion industry, a natural path for her after falling deeply in love with fashion at age 13 thanks to a stack of old W Magazines at a garage sale. With a degree in fashion design and a decade working in Dallas and L.A. as a trend forecaster, wardrobe stylist and e-commerce merchandiser, she’s the real deal.

MELISSA SCARAMUCCI

@GLITTERMEL75

If it’s the arts, she’s there. Among other feats, in 2003 Scaramucci and her buddy Cacky Poarch arguably resurrected deadCenter Film Festival and set it on its path to become the globally respected, rollicking showcase it is today. She’s been lauded by the Norman Arts Council for her support of the arts community, currently serves as vice president of Oklahoma Contemporary and is an independent movie producer. Perhaps most spectacularly, she founded one of the best parties in the 405: the Glitter Ball, which benefits deadCenter and also celebrates her birthday. That’s pure genius!

Follow her in any way that isn’t creepy, and your cultural wellbeing will immediately improve.

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GET YOUR SWEAT ON

BY CHRISTINE EDDINGTON

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JANUARY 2021

T ’ S

J A N U A R Y .

THE TRIED AND TRUE

First of all, Happy New Year and, if I may say so, good riddance to 2020! We’ve been hunkered down for 10 months now, and although vaccines are being distributed and given, we’re still experiencing challenges brought by the pandemic.

I’m not naming names, but working from home in sweatpants has done a number on some of us, hasn’t it? Sweatpants are great because you can hang around in them all day and they stretch, no matter how much you eat or how little you move.

They’re also the enemy – because you can hang around in them all day and they stretch, no matter how much you eat.

One challenge we can address right now: MOVE IT. Exercise is one routine activity that should

R U N N I N G All you need is a good pair of shoes and comfortable clothes. Newbie runner programs, group training runs and race training programs are offered by many area running shops at no charge. Check out offerings from Red Coyote (redcoyoterunning.com), OK Runner (myokrunner.com) or running clubs like the Oklahoma City Running Club (okcrunning.org).

From Runner’s World: As a beginner, you can spend all week/month/year thinking about how to run and browsing the web for tips … or you can just get out there regularly. Forget about hitting a certain pace … ditch the idea of reaching a certain distance, and instead, just set a time goal … a good beginner running target is to get outside or on a treadmill for 20 minutes, three days a week.

You can run for a minute and then walk for a minute or two (or three), and just repeat for 20 minutes. That, my friends, is running.

C Y C L I N G Whether you choose indoor or outdoor cycling, you’ll get a great workout that’s easy on your joints. This time of year, indoor cycling may be the more comfortable option, and local studios like CycleBar have implemented COVID safety protocols to keep you healthy.

“When you come and ride at CycleBar Chisholm Creek or Norman you get a great cardio and strength workout and also an equally important positive mental reinforcement. All of this together greatly enhances a person’s endorphins, generates a fun 'party on a bike' atmosphere, and even helps the immune system too!” says CycleBar owner Pat Fitzgerald.

not be allowed to fall through the cracks. If it has, let’s take a deep breath and pick up wherever we left off. The mental and physical benefits of regular exercise are well known, as is the immune-system-boosting magic of movement.

To help with our move-more mission, we’ve assembled lots of ways to shake up your day, from the tried and true to the (perhaps) new-to-you.

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Y O G A People have been practicing yoga for thousands of years and for good reason. It makes us feel better, it doesn’t require fancy equipment and it can be modified for any experience level. Shannon Stevens, owner of This Land Yoga, says her studio is ready to meet you wherever you are physically, mentally and actually. This Land offers small, in-person classes (masks required before, during and after class), as well as live-stream and on-demand web-based classes. “We offer many choices. Our Vimeo channel is full of all styles and lengths of classes. Meditation, yoga styles including some very active classes and some very restorative classes. Our live-stream classes are 6075 minutes and class packages for streaming classes are discounted a bit from our regular, in-person classes.”

In the works for January: a live-stream yoga beginners’ series, which is also available on demand via the This Land Yoga Vimeo. Visit thislandyoga.com for all the details.

WEIGHT TRAINING/STRENGTH T R A I N I N G Erika Barenberg, mind-body coach and CEO of 413 Fitness (the413fitness.com), works with clients ranging from everyday folks to elite fitness and bikini athletes. Her fitness journey began with a childhood diagnosis of an autoimmune disease, which requires her to stay active to feel her best. “I love weight training for the feeling of empowerment it brings, as well as having toned muscles,” Barenberg says. “We offer gym training, custom online guides, in-home training and ZOOM.” Her tips for a newbie: - Go at your own pace.

- Don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s.

- Challenge yourself.

- Don’t give up when it gets hard – that’s when the magic starts to happen!

BO DY & MOO D WORKOUT D A N C E For a near-instant mood boost, turn on some music and shake your groove thang.

Dancing, no matter your skill level, is scientifically proven to make us feel happier. What accounts for this? Moving to music awakens the brain’s pleasure circuits. Adult beginner ballet, jazz and tap classes are offered by Oklahoma City University, through its Community Dance Academy (okcu.edu/community-danceacademy/classes). The Yvonne Chouteau School at Oklahoma City Ballet offers adult classes, beginner through advanced, as well as modern dance classes. Visit okcballet.org.

W A L K I N G It’s so simple. Go for a walk.

Walk around your neighborhood. Don’t attach anything else to it. You’re not trying to change yourself, there’s no cause to embrace, no goal to crush. Don’t do it with any expectation other than to get some air. As movie-maker Michael Moore says, “My advice: Quit trying to be something you’re not, be happy with the life you’ve been given, and just go for a pleasant walk outside.”

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THE ADVENTUROUS WORKOUTS P A R K O U R The word parkour comes from the French word parcours, which literally means the way through, or the path. As a form of exercise or training, parkour involves moving from one spot to another, using the obstacles or items in your way to maximize your efficiency. So, yes, you can navigate any terrain life throws your way, plus have a great time. In the 405, check out Double Jump Parkour and Ninja Warrior. (facebook.com/DoubleJumpGym) A E R I A L / C I R C U S A R T S W O R K O U T S Cirque du Soleil, here you come! What are we talking about? In aerial yoga, students work on balance, posture, strength and yoga poses while supported by strips of (strong) fabric hanging from the ceiling called aerial silks.

It’s fun, silly and beautiful. In the 405, aerial arts workouts are the provenance of studios like Aerial Arts Gym of Oklahoma (aerialartsgym. com), or Magic Tree Studio (facebook.com/MagicTreeArtists), where you can also learn Poi (fire dancing), hula hoops or even pole dancing, which we have never seen at a circus. But, hey, what do we know.

G A R D E N I N G Even in winter months, there’s plenty to do in your yard or garden.

Bulbs, which bring years of joy, can be planted throughout colder months. This is also the time to dig a new flower bed or vegetable garden, do some shrub pruning, add a raised bed. When you’re done with those, mulch your beds, clean, sharpen and oil your gardening tools and refill your bird feeders. Oklahoma State University, through its Extension program, is a wealth of Oklahomaspecific gardening information. Monthly task lists, tips, recommended varieties… it’s fantastic. (extension.okstate.edu)

F E N C I N G If you’re looking for a sport that you’ll be able to enjoy until your dotage, fencing may well be it. “A good friend of mine fenced until he was 80,” said Brian Brus, an Oklahoma City-based writer with a decades-long fencing career. “Fencing is like playing two games at the same time: tag and keep-away,” he says. It’s a game of poke or be poked, played with three-foot-long stick. “While there are certainly practiced positions and actions involved, personality and subterfuge are also in play,” Brus says. He began his fencing career in college, with visions of swashbuckling dancing in his head. During these formative fencing years, he met Dave Ribaudo, who is now the owner of City of Thunder Fencing and organizer of the Oklahoma City Fencers Club. Ribaudo’s fencing studio offers a sweet deal for new fencers or the fencing-curious. A one-hour introductory class is just $25. Visit cityofthunderfencing.com/programs to learn more.

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TH E ANN U AL TO P D O CTO R S L I S T P R O V I D E S T HE NA M E S O F 4 0 5 - A RE A D OC TO R S REC O MMEN D ED B Y TH E I R P E E R S . T HE 2 0 2 1 L I S T C O NTA IN S 3 3 5 D O C TORS L I STED ALPH AB ETICA L LY A ND S E C T I O NE D B Y S P E C I A LT Y A RE A .

METHODOLOGY AND DISCLAIMERS Summary. DataJoe Research is a software and research company specializing in data collection and verification, and conducts various nominations across the United States on behalf of publishers. To create the “top doctors” list, DataJoe Research facilitated an online peer-voting process, also referencing government sources. DataJoe then tallied the votes per category for each doctor to isolate the top nominees in each category. After collecting nominations and additional information, DataJoe checked and confirmed that each published winner had a current, active license status with the state regulatory board. If we were not able to find evidence of a doctor’s current, active registration with the state regulatory board, that doctor was excluded from the list. In addition, any doctor who has been disciplined, up to 28

JANUARY 2021

the time-frame of our review process for an infraction by the state regulatory board, was excluded from the list. Finally, DataJoe presented the tallied result to the magazine for its final review and adjustments.

Final note. We recognize that there are many good doctors who are not shown in this representative list. This is only a sampling of the huge array of talented professionals within the region. Inclusion in the list is based on the opinions of responding doctors in the region and the results of our research campaign. We take time and energy to ensure fair voting, although we understand that the results of this survey nomination are not an objective metric. We certainly do not discount the fact that many, many good and effective doctors may not appear on the list.

Disclaimers. DataJoe uses best practices and exercises great care in assembling content for this list. DataJoe does not warrant that the data contained within the list are complete or accurate. DataJoe does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions herein whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. All rights reserved. No commercial use of the information in this list may be made without written permission from DataJoe. Questions? For research/methodology questions, contact the research team at surveys@datajoe.com.

ALLERGY IMMUNOLOGY Amy L Darter

Oklahoma Institute of Allergy Asthma & Immunology 405-607-4333

Martha M Tarpay

Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Research Center 405-752-0393

ANESTHESIOLOGY Andrew Crabbe

Integris Health Partners 405-272-9641

Suanne M Daves

OU Physicians Building 405-271-2310

Bennett E Fuller

Affiliated Anesthesiologists 405-755-1080

Randall Schwartz

OU Physicians Building 405-271-2310

Brian Seacat

Integris Health Edmond 405-657-3000

Nigam Sheth

Integris Health Partners 405-272-9641

Kofi B Vandyck

OU Physicians Building 405-271-2310

Michael Vollers

OU Health Sciences Center 405-271-4351

CARDIOLOGY Tarun Watson Dasari OU Physicians Building 405-271-7001

CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERY

Scott Shadfar

Donny M Wynn

William Randall Kakish

Panayiotis D Tsitouras

Harold M Burkhart

Diana Tamboli

FAMILY MEDICINE

Ross Keener

Integris Health Partners 405-632-4000

GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY

Ravi Kurella

Robert S Mannel

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4631

John Chaffin

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinic 405-951-4345 Legacy

C Craig Elkins

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinic 405-951-4345

Lacy E Harville, III

Integris Facial Plastic Surgery 405-657-3895 Oculoplastic Surgeons Of Oklahoma PLLC 405-521-0041

Quang Tu

Plastic Surgery Center of Oklahoma 405-636-7220

CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE Christopher W Lentz

Integris Paul Silverstein Burn Center 405-951-8042

OU Physicians Building 405-271-1400

DERMATOLOGY

Robert Hooker

Pamela S Allen

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinic 405-951-4345

John D Randolph

Oklahoma Heart Hospital 405-608-3800

Kyle W Toal

Norman Regional Health System 405-515-2288

David Vanhooser

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinic 405-951-4345

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Karen J Beckman

OU Physicians Dermatology 405-271-6110

Julie Bowman Lowe Lowe Dermatology 405-608-6877

Lindsey Collins

OU Physicians Dermatology 405-271-6110 Rising Stars

Otobia G Dimson

Integris Health Partners 405-724-7075

David K Duncan

Norman Regional Health System 405-321-3868

Michael D John

Edmond Dermatology Clinic 405-359-0551

Elizabeth Prater

SSM Health 405-231-8740

James R Barrett

OU Physicians Family Medicine 405-271-4311

Rebecca Barrett Integris Family Care Southwest 405-636-7650

Ryan M Biggers

OU Physicians Mid-Del Family Medicine 405-736-6811

James L Brand

OU Physicians Family Medicine 405-271-4311

Brian R Coleman

Integris Family Care Memorial West 405-773-6415

Sean M Halleran

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiology Clinic 405-948-4040

Faisal Latif

OU Physicians Building 405-271-7001

Derek L Norman

Oklahoma Heart Hospital 405-608-3800

Dwayne A Schmidt

Cardiovascular Health Clinic PLLC 405-701-9880

Marcus J Smith

Cardiovascular Health Clinic PLLC 405-701-9880

Kenneth Matthew Wong Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiology Clinic 405-947-3341

OU Medical Center 405-271-5533

COLON AND RECTAL SURGERY

EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Hani Baradi

The Children’s Hospital 405-271-4700

Integris Colon and Rectal Surgery Clinic 405-948-0640

Kristina K Booth

OU Physicians Building 405-271-1400

Steven Carter

Sarah Shelton

ENDOCRINOLOGY DIABETES AND METABOLISM Mary Zoe Baker

Melanie Marshall

Integris Family Care Council Crossing 405-470-2590

Michael Morgan

SSM Health 405-231-3000

Tomas Owens

Joshua Carey

Integris General Surgery Edmond 405-657-3690

Christopher D Carey

General Surgery Baptist Clinic 405-713-9935

Jess Franklin Armor

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-8299

Brian Geister

Integris Cancer Institute 405-773-6400 Legacy

Jennifer L HolterChakrabarty

Svein M Holsaeter

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-8299

Jason S Lees

HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE

SSM Health 405-232-4211

OU Physicians Building 405-271-1400

Stefani Madison

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-7635

Kalyanakrishna Ramakrishnan

Timothy A Vavricka Integris Health Partners 405-601-5169

OU Physicians Family Medicine 405-271-4311

Tim Weaver

INFECTIOUS DISEASE

OU Physicians Family Medicine 405-271-4311

Douglas Riddle

Integris Family Care Edmond East 405-657-3984

Jennifer J Semore

Integris Family Care Council Crossing 405-470-2590

Peter A Winn

OU Physicians Family Medicine 405-271-4311

COSMETIC SURGERY

Tauseef Ali

Cassie Smith

Deborah Blalock

Optimal Health Associates 405-715-4496

McBride Orthopedic Hospital 405-230-9270

James Daniel Shepherd

Perihan Dimachkie

Bajaj Plastic Surgery 405-810-8448

Mark Shreve

Great Plains Family Medicine Center 405-951-2855

OU Physicians Building 405-271-1400

Anu Bajaj

OU Physicians Building 405-271-3445

Integris Hand and Microsurgery Clinic 405-945-4888

Philip C Comp

Harold Hamm Diabetes Center 405-271-1000 Integris Endocrinology South 405-644-5030

Ghazi Rayan

SSM Health 405-772-4338 Rising Stars

GENERAL SURGERY

OU Physicians Family Medicine 405-271-4311

Justin North

Jason M Wagner

Mercy Clinic Hand Surgery 405-757-3340

Rachel M Franklin

Dwight W Reynolds

OU Physicians Building 405-271-7001

Zachary Michael Hurwitz

Mercy Clinic Oncology and Hematology 405-751-4343

Terrie Gibson

Chittur A Sivaram

HAND SURGERY

Mercy Clinic Gastroenterology 405-416-9703

MDVIP 405-455-3636

DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY Garrison Tower 405-271-5125

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-8707

Joe Carroll Zuerker

OU Physicians Building 405-271-7001 OU Physicians Building 405-271-7001

Joan L Walker

Robert C Dimski

Sunny S Po

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiology Clinic 405-947-3341

Pooja Singhal

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-8707

HEMATOLOGY

Norman Regional Health System 405-515-2222

Archana Gautam

Mercy Clinic Interventional Gastroenterology 405-749-7014

OU Physicians Building 405-271-3050

Norman Regional Health System 405-515-2777

Cheyn D Onarecker

OU Physicians Dermatology 405-271-6110

Sanjay Sikka

Tony Tran

Thomas Stasko

Charles Bethea

Digestive Disease Specialists Inc 405-632-4000

Jeffrey Cruzan

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiology Clinic 405-947-3341

Cardiovascular Health Clinic PLLC 405-701-9880

Son H Nguyen

William M Tierney

Integris Family Care Southwest 405-636-7625

OU Physicians Building 405-271-7001

Southwest Gastroenterology Associates PLLC 405-631-0481

OU Physicians Family Medicine 405-271-4311

Healthy Skin Dermatology 405-673-4980

W Lance Garner

Mercy Clinic Gastroenterology 405-749-4247

GASTROENTEROLOGY SSM Health 405-772-4338 Integris Health Partners 405-608-2772

General Surgery Baptist Clinic 405-713-9935

Integris General Surgery Yukon 405-717-5400

Ryan F Wicks

General Surgery Baptist Clinic 405-713-9935

GERIATRIC MEDICINE

Robert C Salinas

Saud Iqbal Ahmed

Crescent Infectious Diseases 405-594-5848

Ahmad Ashfaq

Crescent Infectious Diseases 405-594-5848

Michael S Bronze

OU Physicians Building 405-271-3445

Robin K Gonzalez SSM Health 405-272-7494

David Chansolme

Lee Jennings

OU Physicians Building 405-271-3050

Integris Health Partners 405-644-6464

John Rudman Harkess

Saleem M Qureshi

OU Physicians Building 405-271-3050

Mercy Clinic Infectious Disease 405-755-4290

Bryan D Struck

James L Kirk, Jr

OU Physicians Building 405-271-3050

SSM Health 405-272-4710

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Congratulations to DMEI’s 17 Ophthalmologists Named to Best Doctors in America Andrew K. Bailey, MD Cynthia A. Bradford, MD Reagan H. Bradford Jr., MD Brian K. Firestone, MD Layne E. Goetzinger, MD Ralph B. Hester III, MD

David W. Jackson, MD Mahmoud A. Khaimi, MD Ronald M. Kingsley, MD Annie Moreau, MD Rebecca K. Morgan, MD Vinay A. Shah, MD

Since its dedication on December 4, 1975, the Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) has become one of America’s largest and most respected centers for medical and surgical eye care. Many of the Institute’s physicians and scientists are national leaders in their fields.

In affiliation with the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, the Eye Institute’s vision research program ranks among the top 20 in the country (top 10 among centers affiliated with a public university) with respect to funding from the National Institutes of Health and Research to Prevent Blindness. Its dedication to training future generations is reflected in its highly competitive residency and fellowship programs, which attract talented young ophthalmologists from across the nation.

In U.S. News & World Report’s 2020-2021 survey, DMEI was recognized as one of the nation’s top 20 academic eye centers (seventh among public universities). Its residency program also was ranked among the top 20 by Doximity (eighth among public universities).

Oklahoma Health Center 608 Stanton L Young Blvd.

Oklahoma City, OK 73104 405.271.6060

Northwest OKC Office

3500 N.W. 56th St., #101 Oklahoma City, OK 73112 405.271.9500

R. Michael Siatkowski, MD Rhea L. Siatkowski, MD Gregory L. Skuta, MD Deana S. Watts, MD Tammy L. Yanovitch, MD

All of this and $50 million in expansions of its state-of-the-art facilities during the past decade allow the Institute, now spanning 148,000 square feet, to build on its world-class achievements, explore new horizons, and help fulfill its deep commitment “to serving all Oklahomans and the global community through excellence and leadership in patient care, education, and vision research.”

To learn more about the Dean McGee Eye Institute or to schedule an appointment, please visit www.dmei.org.

The Preferred Eye Care Provider of the OKC Thunder

www.dmei.org

Edmond Office

1005 Medical Park Blvd.

Edmond, OK 73013 405.271.0913

Lawton Office

3201 W. Gore Blvd., #200 Lawton, OK 73505 580.250.5855

DR.

BAILEY is a glaucoma specialist at the Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI), where he provides his patients with the latest in glaucoma treatments including medications, laser therapy, and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). Born in Denver, Colorado, Dr. Bailey earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado and his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma (OU) College of Medicine. He served as a general medical officer in the United States Navy from 2005 to 2010. He completed a residency in ophthalmology at DMEI/OU, where he also completed a glaucoma fellowship, and joined the DMEI/OU faculty in 2014. In addition to the care he provides patients at DMEI, Dr. Bailey also cares for patients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center ANDREW K. BAILEY, MD in Oklahoma City. As a veteran, Glaucoma Eye Specialist Dr. Bailey is honored to continue Clinical Associate Professor to provide medical service to his fellow service members.

Dr. Bailey is wholeheartedly invested in the education of the next generation of ophthalmologists. In conjunction with other faculty at DMEI/ OU, he works to assure that the highest standards of care are being taught to ophthalmology residents. He is the recipient of a number of teaching awards including the M. Dewayne Andrews, MD Excellence in Teaching Award in Graduate Medical Education in 2018. Dr. Bailey has also conducted research on a number of MIGS procedures.

Dr. Bailey and his wife, Breen, have three children.

DR. FIRESTONE is the only fellowship-trained ocular oncologist and pathologist in Oklahoma. He has specific interest and expertise in caring for patients with tumors in or around the eye and also performs microscopic evaluation of eyerelated biopsies and tissue. He sees adults with a wide variety of lesions ranging from small “freckles” and other benign tumors to melanoma and other cancers. He also sees children with retinoblastoma, Coats’ disease, and other lesions.

Dr. Firestone’s team works with other cancer specialists at OU Medical Center to provide the most comprehensive and high-quality treatment for eye cancer available in the state.

Dr. Firestone is a native of Oklahoma and received his undergraduate education at Oklahoma Baptist University and BRIAN K. FIRESTONE, MD his medical training at the University Ocular Oncology and Ophthalmic Pathology of Oklahoma. He served as clinical Clinical Associate Professor fellow on the oncology service at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the largest eye cancer center in the United States.

Dr. Firestone then served as a fellow in the ocular pathology department at Wills Eye Hospital, which processes one of the largest volumes of ophthalmic specimens in the world. He joined the Dean McGee Eye Institute/University of Oklahoma Department of Ophthalmology in 2014. Dr. Firestone has delivered invited lectures and produced numerous publications on topics related to ocular oncology and pathology. His team participates in several multicenter clinical trials with the nation’s leading ocular oncology centers.

Dr. Firestone and his wife, Jessica, have four children.

DR. GOETZINGER is a native

DR. HESTER is a comprehensive

Oklahoman. He received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma (OU) and completed his residency training in ophthalmology in the OU Department of Ophthalmology at the Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI).

He currently serves as a clinical associate professor at DMEI/OU. His clinical focus is comprehensive ophthalmology with an emphasis on cataract surgery.

Dr. Goetzinger has been in practice for nearly 30 years at DMEI, during which time he has developed a close relationship with many of his patients. He sees patients in clinic at DMEI’s Oklahoma Health Center location and at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

A portion of Dr. Goetzinger’s time is devoted to the training of LAYNE E. GOETZINGER, MD residents, for which he has been Comprehensive Ophthalmology the recipient of the Excellence Clinical Associate Professor in Attending at VA Award three times. He has been named to Castle Connolly Top Doctors from 2017 to 2020 and to Best Doctors in America from 2015 to 2020.

eye specialist at the Dean McGee Eye Institute’s (DMEI’s) Northwest Oklahoma City Clinic, one of DMEI’s busiest facilities with more than 1,000 patient visits each month.

Building long-term relationships with patients is an important part of eye care. Dr. Hester has many patients to whom he has provided eye care for more than 20 years. He prides himself on being accessible to patients and developing relationships with their other medical providers to address related conditions.

Dr. Hester’s special interests are cataract surgery and lens implant surgery, including the use of advanced technology intraocular lenses with an emphasis on multifocal presbyopia-correcting lenses and astigmatism-correcting lenses.

He has experience RALPH B. HESTER III, MD performing cataract surgery on Comprehensive Eye Specialist patients with prior retinal and Clinical Associate Professor glaucoma surgeries, and after refractive surgeries such as RK, PRK, or LASIK. He also has experience with femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery. Dr. Hester performs a large number of cataract surgeries, both downtown at the McGee Eye Surgery Center and at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center, just across the highway from DMEI’s Northwest Oklahoma City Clinic.

He received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma (OU) and completed his residency training at DMEI/OU in Oklahoma City. He is a clinical associate professor at OU and enjoys training ophthalmology residents in the art of cataract surgery.

DMEI.ORG

DR. JACKSON is an 18-year

veteran with the Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) and is an expert in LASIK surgery, cataract surgery to correct vision and reduce the need for glasses, and post-LASIK cataract surgery. He is a team ophthalmologist to the OKC Thunder and is the cataract and refractive surgeon of choice for prominent business leaders, major university football players and coaches, NFL quarterbacks, and NBA players.

Dr. Jackson has lectured nationally and internationally and is the author of numerous book chapters and scientific publications.

As a clinical associate professor and medical director of DMEI’s Stephenson Refractive Surgery Center, he teaches residents and fellows and contributes to clinical trials advancing the field of DAVID W. JACKSON, MD ophthalmology.

Comprehensive Eye Specialist Dr. Jackson received his medical Clinical Associate Professor degree from the University of New Mexico. He received his ophthalmology training at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he was voted chief resident by faculty and peers. At Baylor, he went on to complete a fellowship in cornea, refractive and anterior segment surgery.

Dr. Jackson’s wife, Traci, is an early childhood development educator, and they have three sons. He would enjoy the opportunity to care for you and your family.

DR.

MOREAU is the senior member of the Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery service.

As an oculoplastic surgeon, she cares for patients who have suffered trauma to the structures surrounding the eye as well as those whose vision is impacted by drooping eyelids or brows, or who have tumors or lesions on or around the eye. Dr. Moreau sees patients at DMEI as well as at OU Health, where she serves as the Medical Staff Service Chief for Ophthalmology and helps provide emergency room coverage at Oklahoma’s only Level I trauma center.

Originally from Montreal and educated in Quebec, Canada, Dr. Moreau was first an optometrist in Quebec, then for the US Indian Health Service in Ada, Oklahoma, and then at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oklahoma City. In 2006, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma (OU) College of Medicine, where ANNIE MOREAU, MD, FACS she received the Leonard Tow Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Humanism in Medicine Award. Dr. Associate Professor Moreau then completed a year of Medical Staff Service Chief for Ophthalmology general surgery before entering an ophthalmology residency at DMEI/ OU and subsequently completed a fellowship in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery/neuro-ophthalmology. Dr. Moreau joined the faculty at DMEI/OU in 2012. She is a member of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and has been the recipient of a number of teaching awards related to her work with medical students, residents, and fellows, including the 2020 Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award, the OU College of Medicine’s highest teaching award.

Dr. Moreau is an accomplished concert pianist who has helped benefit such causes as Prevent Blindness Oklahoma and residency education at DMEI/OU.

DR. KHAIMI sees pediatric and adult glaucoma patients. His interests include complex anterior segment surgery, glaucoma laser therapy, minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), filtering/drainage implant surgery, and routine and complex cataract surgery. He also serves as the team lead ophthalmologist for the OKC Thunder.

Dr. Khaimi is the pioneer/developer of the minimally invasive glaucoma procedure–ab interno canaloplasty (ABiC). ABiC now enables surgeons to intervene earlier in glaucoma than with conventional filtering procedures, and doctors and patients receive the added benefit of simplified postoperative follow-up and fewer side effects and complications compared with traditional glaucoma surgery. As a world authority in ABiC, Dr. Khaimi has been asked to do live surgery and help launch the procedure both nationally and internationally. As a world renowned glaucoma surgeon, Dr. Khaimi has hosted numerous ophthalmologists from throughout MAHMOUD A. KHAIMI, MD the world in his operating theatre.

Glaucoma and Anterior Segment Eye Specialist Dr. Khaimi was recently named the Clinical Professor James P. Luton, MD Endowed Chair in James P. Luton, MD Ophthalmology.

He is director of the Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology prestigious and highly competitive Director of Glaucoma Fellowship glaucoma fellowship at the Dean McGee Eye Institute/University of Oklahoma. He has delivered many national and international lectures, is the associate editor for the glaucoma textbook “Essentials of Glaucoma Surgery,” and has authored a number of other book chapters and publications. Dr. Khaimi served as vice chair of the glaucoma panel for the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Practicing Ophthalmologists Curriculum and is lead investigator for numerous nationally recognized clinical and surgical research trials.

Dr. Khaimi and his wife, Suzie, have six children.

DR. SHAH’S expertise includes

managing patients with macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, and other complex issues of the retina. Dr. Shah manages a high-volume efficient clinic schedule, seeing patients at the Dean McGee Eye Institute’s (DMEI’s) Oklahoma Health Center and Lawton locations. Dr. Shah has a special interest in treating complex surgical retinal pathology.

Dr. Shah is considered one of the world’s experts in using technology in eye care. He moderates and lectures at courses regarding technology at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). Dr. Shah is the co-developer of “Eye Handbook,” the most popular mobile application in eye care.

He was the editor for the Retina VINAY A. SHAH, MD Section for “EyeWiki” and has been Vitreoretinal Specialist honored with a Senior Achievement Clinical Professor Award and a Secretariat Award by Thelma Gaylord Endowed Chair in the AAO for his services.

Ophthalmology Dr. Shah has authored over 70 Director of Retina Fellowship peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters. He is an investigator for clinical trial studies with the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, Stephenson Cancer Center, and Harvard University, as well as various other studies related to diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. Dr. Shah is the vitreoretinal fellowship director and is actively involved in ophthalmology residency and fellowship education. He was the recipient of the 2018 Edward and Thelma Gaylord Faculty Resident Teaching Award.

DMEI.ORG

DR. SIATKOWSKI sees children at the Eye Clinic at OU Health’s Oklahoma Children’s Hospital while also seeing both adult and pediatric patients at the Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI). His primary clinical interests include strabismus, abnormal eye movements, eye muscle surgery, retinopathy of prematurity, and neurologic diseases of the visual system.

Dr. Siatkowski is a member of the Academy of Teaching Scholars and serves on the Oklahoma Department of Health’s Children and Infant Advisory Committee.

He is a former director of the American Board of Ophthalmology, past president of both the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus and the Christian Ophthalmology Society, and past vice chair of the Residency Review Committee for R. MICHAEL SIATKOWSKI, MD Ophthalmology.

Pediatric and Neuro-Ophthalmology Dr. Siatkowski has received David W. Parke II, MD Endowed Professor seven different teaching awards Vice Chair for Academic Affairs throughout his career, and has Residency Program Director given dozens of invited lectures on five different continents. He has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles and has received grant support from the National Eye Institute for 23 of the last 25 years. Dr. Siatkowski is the recipient of a Presidential Professorship from the University of Oklahoma, a Life Achievement Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the Straatsma Award for Excellence in Resident Education.

Dr. Siatkowski is a father of three and married to Dr. Rhea Siatkowski, a cornea and external disease specialist also in practice at DMEI.

DR. SIATKOWSKI is a cornea, external disease, uveitis, cataract, conjunctival, and anterior segment ocular surgeon. After completing her medical degree at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University in New York, she completed her residency in ophthalmology and her cornea and external disease fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami.

Dr. Siatkowski manages an extremely busy clinic and surgery schedule to help restore vision to her patients. Dr. Siatkowski’s interests are dry eye, severe ocular surface disease, autoimmune disease, Sjogren’s syndrome, keratoprosthesis, chemical injury, ocular oncology, corneal transplant, and Fuchs dystrophy.

For Dr. Siatkowski, restoring vision is what it is all about. The RHEA L. SIATKOWSKI, MD combination of basic and clinical Cornea and External Disease Specialist research at the Institute gives her Clinical Associate Professor the very latest tools to combat Director of Cornea Fellowship corneal diseases. Her access to such ground-breaking technology and procedures, and her experience, have helped Dr. Siatkowski make the cornea/external disease program at the Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) one of the top-tier programs in the nation.

Dr. Siatkowski is a mom of three and married to Dr. R. Michael Siatkowski, a pediatric and neuro-ophthalmologist also in practice at DMEI.

DR. SKUTA is a glaucoma specialist, the president and chief executive officer of the Dean McGee Eye Institute, and the Edward L. Gaylord Professor and Chair and Regents’ Professor in the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology in Oklahoma City.

A native of Illinois, he received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Illinois. Dr. Skuta completed an ophthalmology residency at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he was chief resident, and a glaucoma fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami.

A contributor to more than 115 publications, book chapters, and educational products, Dr. Skuta has a particular research and clinical interest in surgical wound healing as well as glaucoma clinical GREGORY L. SKUTA, MD trials. He has served as president Glaucoma Eye Specialist of the American Academy of President/CEO/Edward L. Gaylord Ophthalmology (AAO), American Professor and Chair Glaucoma Society, and American Regents’ Professor Eye Study Club; as a director for the American Board of Ophthalmology; and on the Board of Governors of the World Glaucoma Association. Dr. Skuta currently serves as chair of the AAO Foundation’s Advisory Board, on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Glaucoma, and on the Board of Directors for the Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company and for the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research.

Among Dr. Skuta’s honors and awards are Phi Beta Kappa, president of the University of Illinois Varsity Men’s Glee Club, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and an AAO Life Achievement Honor Award.

DR. YANOVITCH’S clinical focus is on pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus, with special interests in amblyopia, eye muscle surgery, double vision, and children with special needs. She sees patients at the Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) and at OU Health’s Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Tulsa and earned her medical degree with high honors from the University of Oklahoma (OU) College of Medicine.

Dr. Yanovitch completed her ophthalmology residency at DMEI/ OU and her fellowship at Duke University, where she also served on the faculty before returning to join DMEI/OU. Dr. Yanovitch received a 2019 M. Dewayne Andrews, MD Excellence in Teaching Award in Graduate Medical Education. She TAMMY L. YANOVITCH, MD, MHSC also has received an American Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Clinical Associate Professor Achievement Award and AAO Director of Medical Student Education Secretariat Award. Dr. Yanovitch is an oral board examiner and member of the Item Development Committee for the American Board of Ophthalmology. She is the new director of medical student education at DMEI/OU. Dr. Yanovitch is also co-associate editor of the recently published book, “The Duke Manual of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Surgery,” and serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.

Dr. Yanovitch is the mother of one and married to Rob, PGA golf director at the Shangri-la Resort, Monkey Island, Grand Lake, Oklahoma.

DMEI.ORG

Vijay Kumar Kolli

MATERNAL AND FETAL MEDICINE

NEUROLOGY

Linda J Salinas

Ronan Bakker

Professional Office Building 405-271-6434

The Perinatal Center 405-606-2850

Integris Neuroscience Institute 405-644-5160

Michelle R Salvaggio

John R Stanley, III

William Bendure

Crescent Infectious Diseases 405-594-5848

John Barghols

Professional Office Building 405-271-6434

The Perinatal Center 405-748-4726

Integris Neuroscience Institute 405-644-5160

Donna Tyungu

MEDICAL ONCOLOGY AND HEMATOLOGY

Brent Beson

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4211

Robert Charles Welliver, Sr

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4211

INTERNAL MEDICINE Dustan Pierce Buckley Mercy Clinic Primary Care 405-840-4456

Michael K Crawford MDVIP 866-696-3847

Lawrence V Deck, III MDVIP 405-607-8945

Susan Dimick

Central Oklahoma Early Detection Center 405-475-0100

S. A. Dean Drooby S.A. Dean Drooby, MD 405-603-7610

Erin Glasgow

Integris Family Care Central 405-945-4433

David Karasek SSM Health 405-272-6635

Brian P Levy MDVIP 405-330-7606

Thomas Henry Merrill Mercy Clinic Primary Care 405-329-0121 Legacy

George Tardibono

OU Physicians Building 405-271-3445

Kersey Lee Winfree SSM Health 405-815-5060

INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY George Chrysant

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiology Clinic 405-951-4364

Bryan Cogar

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiology Clinic 405-947-3341

Brook D Scott

Oklahoma Heart Hospital 405-608-3800

Jeffrey Sparling

Integris Cardiovascular Physicians Cardiology Clinic 405-947-3341

Leonard Michael Bowen Saint Anthony’s HematologyOncology Physicians 405-228-7100

Johnny McMinn

Integris Cancer Institute 405-773-6400

George B Selby

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-8299

NEPHROLOGY Fazal Ali

Integris Health Partners 405-644-5428

Gary Dean Bond

Integris Health Partners 405-942-5442

Laxmi Gadde

Integris Health Partners 405-942-5442

Sudhir K Khanna

Integris Health Partners 405-942-5442

Satish Kumar

OU Physicians Building 405-271-8478

Sujan Pathak

Integris Health Partners 405-942-5442

Laura A Rankin

Marguerite Anna Butchee

Mercy Clinic Neurology 405-302-2661

Brett Dees

Norman Regional Health System 405-307-5700

David Lee Gordon

OU Physicians Building 405-271-3635

Travis Kanaly

Integris Health Partners 405-844-4978

Joshua Kershen

Integris Neuroscience Institute 405-644-5160

Jeanne Ann King

OU College of Medicine 405-271-4113

Ashish Masih

Integris Neurology at Baptist Medical Center 405-713-9930

Calin I Prodan

OU Physicians Building 405-271-3635

Salomi Salins

Integris Neurology at Baptist Medical Center 405-713-9930

Ronald M Kingsley

OTALARYNGOLOGY EAR NOSE THROAT

K Anthony Shanbour

Robert E Leonard, II

Jeffrey A Buyten

Retinal Associates of Oklahoma 405-752-0717

Oklahoma Otolaryngology Associates, LLC 405-364-2666

Gary Franklin Strebel

Annie Moreau

Keith F Clark

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

SSM Health 405-272-6027

Misty Lynn Wayman

Rebecca K Morgan

Benjamin Collins

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Integris Health Partners 405-759-7600

Robert A Wild

Sumit Kumar Nanda

John R Houck, Jr

Integris Health Partners 405-948-2020

OU Health Sciences Center 405-271-5504

ONCOLOGY

Steven R Sarkisian

Greg Allen Krempl

Mercy Clinic OB/GYN 405-216-4004

K. Anthony Shanbour, MD OBGYN 405-237-9878 Drs. Strebel, Hager & Strebel 405-749-4200 Center for Women’s Health 405-755-7430 OU Physicians Building 405-271-9494

Bashar Alasad

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Oklahoma Eye Surgeons 405-943-4413

Integris Cancer Institute at Southwest Medical Center 405-773-6400

Vinay A Shah

JaNae Clapp

Rhea L Siatkowski

Integris Cancer Institute 405-773-6400

Nasser Janbay

Integris Cancer Institute at Southwest Medical Center 405-773-6400

David Lam

SSM Health 405-228-7100

Namali Pierson

Norman Regional Health System 405-321-4644

Craig Lee Reitz

Mercy Clinic Oncology and Hematology 405-751-4343

Robert Reynolds

Integris Health Partners 405-752-0871

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060 Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Raymond Siatkowski

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-1094

Scott C Sigler

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-2662

Michael McGee

Integris Health Partners 405-946-5563

Jesus E Medina

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center 405-271-5504

Christopher A Paskowski

Edmond Eye Associates 405-348-9993

Oklahoma Otolaryngology Associates, LLC 405-364-2666

Gregory L Skuta

Brandon W Pierson

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Vincent Venincasa Edmond Regional Eye Associates, Inc. 405-341-4238 Rising Stars

Deana S Watts

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Thomas Wolf

Oklahoma Otolaryngology Associates, LLC 405-759-7600

Steven Craig Quattlebaum, II

Mercy Clinic Ear, Nose and Throat 405-757-3710

Steven V Richards

Oklahoma Otolaryngology Associates, LLC 405-755-1930

OPHTHALMOLOGY

Wolf & Associates PLLC 405-562-2036

Salman Zubair

Tammy L Yanovitch

Chris Sholer

SSM Health 405-815-5050

Andrew K Bailey

OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY

Charles P Bogie

ORTHOPEDICS

PAIN MANAGEMENT

Gigi J Toma

Cynthia A Bradford

David Bobb

Rafael Justiz, III

Heather R Burks

Integris Baptist Medical Center 405-942-5442 Integris Health Partners 405-842-8298 SSM Health Medical Group 405-272-8367

Lorraine Wilson

Oklahoma Kidney Care 405-748-5800

NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY Clay Cochran

Norman Regional Health System 405-307-3300

Ian F Dunn

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-1112

Stan Pelofsky

Neuroscience Specialists 405-748-3300

Pal S Randhawa

Integris Spine and Neurological Surgery 405-552-0401

Benjamin White

Neuroscience Specialists 405-748-3300

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Integris MDA Neuromuscular Center 405-644-5160

Stephanie Deter Pickett

JANUARY 2021

OU Physicians Reproductive Medicine 405-271-1616

Susan L Chambers

Integris Health Partners 405-936-1000

Lisa E Cheek SSM Health 405-272-8498

Latasha B Craig

OU Physicians Reproductive Medicine 405-271-1616

Rodney K Edwards The Children’s Atrium 405-271-5400

Darren Walter Goff Mercy Clinic OB/GYN 405-242-4030

Nimish Parekh

Integris Health Partners 405-943-6288

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060 Bogie Eye Care 405-528-8193

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center 405-364-7900

Reagan H Bradford, Jr

Donald W McGinnis

Brian K Firestone

Vytautas Ringus

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060 Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Layne E Goetzinger

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Diana E Hampton

Diana E. Hampton, MD 405-217-0113

Ralph B Hester, III

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-9500

David W Jackson

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

Mahmoud A Khaimi

Dean McGee Eye Institute 405-271-6060

McBride Orthopedic Hospital 405-230-9270 Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center 405-364-7900

William Warren Stewart Mercy Clinic Orthopedic Surgery 405-757-3340

Austin L Taylor

Rick L Visor

Oklahoma Otolaryngology Associates, LLC 405-755-6475

Oklahoma Pain Physicians 405-463-3380

Ryan Alan Vincent Mercy Clinic Pain Management 405-757-3630

Gretchen M Wienecke OU Physicians Building 405-271-7255

PATHOLOGY Apple N Rice

The Pathology Group PC 888-912-7927

McBride Orthopedic Hospital 405-230-9270

PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY

David C Teague

Heather Anderson

OU Physicians Building 405-271-2663

Jeremy Woodson

McBride Orthopedic Hospital 405-230-9270

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-5530

OU Physicians

Andrew Tom Cave

Children’s Hospital at Oklahoma University Medical Center 405-271-4411

Elizabeth Makil

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-5530

Arshid Mir

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-5530

Edward D Overholt

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-5530

Kent E Ward

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-5530

PEDIATRIC CRITICAL CARE Morris R Gessouroun The Children’s Hospital 405-271-5211

PEDIATRIC DERMATOLOGY Hillary Lawrence

Integris Health Partners 405-285-8823

PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGY David P Sparling

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-3303

PEDIATRIC GASTROENTEROLOGY Muhammad Adnan Altaf OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6549

John E Grunow

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6549

William H Meyer

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4412

Hanumantha Rao Pokala

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4412

PEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGY Mark H Scott

Children’s Eye Care 405-751-2020

PEDIATRIC ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY J Andy Sullivan

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-2669

PEDIATRIC ORTHOPEDICS ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY Joseph Patrick Davey OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-2669

Thomas R Lewis

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-2669

William R Puffinbarger OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-2669

PEDIATRIC OTALARYNGOLOGY ENT Jack Borders

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-2662

G Paul Digoy

Pediatric ENT of Oklahoma 405-608-8833

PEDIATRIC SPECIALIST/NEONATALPERINATAL MEDICINE Krishnamurthy C Sekar The Children’s Hospital 405-271-5215

Clara H Song

The Children’s Hospital 405-271-5215

Trent E Tipple

OU College of Medicine 405-271-5215

Anne G Wlodaver

Lisa Taylor

Lisa Taylor Plastic Surgery 405-751-1321

Ivan Wayne

Surgery Center of Oklahoma 405-748-5950

PLASTIC SURGERY Robert A Hein

Robert A. Hein, M.D 405-286-4333

PODIATRY

The Children’s Hospital 405-271-5215

Megan Filkins

PEDIATRIC SURGERY

Christopher J Green

Jeremy Johnson

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4357

Bradley Kropp

Integris Health Partners 405-286-0755

Philip Cameron Mantor OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4357

Nikola K Puffinbarger OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4357

Alejandro Ruiz-Elizalde OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4357

PEDIATRICS GENERAL Stephanie Deleon

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6827

Julie A Krodel

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6827

Charles Anthony Leveridge

Jonathan R. L. Schwartz Integris Sleep Disorders Center 405-636-1111

RADIATION ONCOLOGY Christina Henson

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-5641

RADIOLOGY Allen Molloy

Integris Health Partners 405-945-4232

SURGICAL ONCOLOGY William C Dooley

OU Physicians Building 405-271-1400

Barish Edil

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-1632

UROLOGY William Barnes

Integris Health Partners 405-644-5175

Ashley Bennett Bowen

Ryan Trojan

OU Physicians Edmond at Fountain Lake 405-340-1279

Foot & Ankle Surgeons of Oklahoma 405-418-4500

Timothy Lawrence Tytle

Michael Shawn Cookson

Lance Hardison

William Vanlandingham

Advanced Foot & Ankle Clinic 405-692-7114

Integris Health Partners 405-945-4740 Radiology Consultants 405-752-3324

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-4088

OU Medical Center 405-271-4700

Brian W Cross

Oklahoma Heart Hospital 405-608-3800

REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY

Dominic Frimberger

Alaina Jones

Karl R Hansen

Advanced Foot & Ankle Clinic 405-692-7114

Benjamin Harkess

Foot & Ankle Surgeons of Oklahoma 405-418-4500

Greg Rohde

Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center 405-364-7900 Rising Stars

Christopher Seat

Oklahoma Foot & Ankle Treatment Center 405-949-1800

PSYCHIATRY Melanie Barrett

Balance Womens Health 405-378-2727

Rachel J Dalthorp

Balance Womens Health 405-378-2727

Jennifer Morris

OU Physicians Reproductive Medicine 405-271-1616

David Kallenberger

Integris Bennett Fertility 405-945-4701

RHEUMATOLOGY Eliza Chakravarty SSM Health 405-271-7805

Amy Dedeke

Integris Family Care Central 405-945-4490

Fahed M Hamadeh SSM Health 405-272-4953

Latisha Heinlen

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-4088 OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-3800

James Furr

OU Physicians Building 405-271-6452

Richard Edward Herlihy Richard E. Herlihy, M.D. 405-749-4288

Johnny D Hickson, III Urology Associates, Inc. 405-749-9655

Michael Holzer

Integris Health Partners 405-943-1137

Brian Alan Link

Mercy Clinic Urology 405-749-4230

Bhalaajee MeenakshiSundaraam

Integris Health Partners 405-608-8060

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-3800

Edmond Psychiatric Associates 405-285-2260

Ira N Targoff

Sanjay G Patel

Pediatric ENT of Oklahoma 405-608-8833

Northwest Pediatrics of Oklahoma City 405-755-2230

Elena Woodson

Monique M Naifeh

PULMONOLOGY

SLEEP MEDICINE

Mohammad O Ramadan

Matthew Britt

Norman K Imes

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6827

Brent R Brown

Kellie R Jones

Oklahoma Proton Center 405-259-4831

Jill S Warren

Arun Devakonda

SPINE SURGERY

PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGYONCOLOGY

PEDIATRIC SPECIALIST/ ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT MEDICINE

Ashley M Yates

Osman Khan

Amy B Middleman

Candaca M Marshall OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6549

Robert Glade

Pediatric ENT of Oklahoma 405-608-8833

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-2662

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6549

PEDIATRIC RADIATION ONCOLOGY

Mark I Pogemiller

Marilyn I Steele

John Han-Chih Chang

Sirish K Palle

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6549 Legacy

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4412

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6208

Rene McNall-Knapp

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-4412

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JANUARY 2021

OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6827 OU Children’s Physicians Building 405-271-6827

PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY Oscar E Masters

Integris Health Partners 405-246-0391

Integris Health Partners 405-753-6200 OU Physicians Building 405-271-7001 Integris Pulmonology South 405-644-5040

Saif Ullah Farooq

Integris Pulmonology South 405-644-5040

Mark Thad Godish

Mercy Clinic Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine 405-755-4290

Shoab A Nazir

Oklahoma Heart Hospital 405-608-3800

OU Physicians Building 405-271-8478

Imes Sleep Services 405-600-1210 OU Physicians Building 405-271-7001

Michael R Hahn, II

Neuroscience Specialists 405-748-3300

Fadi F Nasr

Oklahoma Spine Hospital 405-748-3300

Robert J Wienecke

Neuroscience Specialists 405-748-3300

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-4088 SSM Health 405-772-4533

E.N. Scott Samara

Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute Kidney and Pancreas Division 405-943-1137

Kelly L Stratton

Stephenson Cancer Center 405-271-1112

VASCULAR SURGERY Joshua Gierman

OU Physicians Building 405-271-1400

Lenny D Stubbs

Oklahoma Heart Hospital 405-608-3800

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Doctor Profiles YOUR GUIDE TO LOCAL DOCTORS AND MEDICAL PRACTICES

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Doctor Profiles

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Jeremy Woodson, MD B OARD CERTIFIED ORTHOPEDIC S URGEON SP ORTS MEDICINE SPECIALIST

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t McBride Orthopedic Hospital, the goal is to deliver consistent, superior patient outcomes through a variety of expertise and care throughout Oklahoma; a testament to which Jeremy Woodson, M.D., holds personally.

Woodson established his orthopedic practice at McBride in 2015, specializing in sports medicine, total joint replacement and upper extremities, including makoplasty of the knee, fracture care and more.

Growing up, Woodson’s uncle was a cardiologist, a career Woodson believed he would follow. That is, until attending the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and becoming involved in orthopedics through clinical rotations. Woodson would later complete his Orthopedic Surgery residency at the OU Health Sciences Center and Orthopedic Sports Medicine Fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Woodson’s career has allowed him to help a multitude of patients including athletes competing at the highest level of professional sports.

“The biggest side of my career is getting people back onto the field. Not only for athletes, but also for those who do sports recreationally or are more active than the average person,” Woodson says. “It’s what drove me to do this in the first place, and it continues to.”

An important aspect of Woodson’s career is helping patients perform tasks in a specific way to mitigate the risk of future injuries.

“Using preventative measures to create safety for patients, including professional athletes, is one of the key factors many ignore until it’s gotten worse,” he says. “Then, when injuries happen, we have the most up-to-date methods to bring anyone back to a full recovery. But the first step is to always check on your health and remain healthy in the process.”

Mike Sanderson, PA-C and Jeremy Woodson, MD

9600 Broadway Extension Oklahoma City, OK 73114

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(405) 230-9270 www.mcboh.com

Doctor Profiles

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Mark Shreve, MD B OARD CERTIFIED ORTHOPEDIC S URGEON

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cBride Orthopedic Hospital is an award-winning, 100% physicianowned orthopedic specialty hospital with multiple locations throughout the state, including Oklahoma City, Edmond, Norman, Yukon, Lawton and Kingfisher. Its underlying mission is to serve communities across Oklahoma by providing access to exceptional orthopedic care.

One of the professionals responsible for this medical expertise is Mark Shreve, M.D. An Edmond native and University of Oklahoma College of Medicine graduate, Shreve completed his residency at New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases and his fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He returned to Oklahoma following his fellowship to be closer to family after starting a family of his own.

Shreve has been an orthopedic surgeon at McBride for two years, focusing his specialties on joint replacement for shoulder and elbow, upper extremities, microsurgery and operations involving the hand and wrist.

“I chose orthopedic surgery because it gave me the opportunity to fix problems for people and help them get back to where they were before,” Shreve says. “Especially in orthopedics, it’s the pinnacle of helping put people back together after an injury.”

As the pandemic shifted many Oklahomans from ergonomic-based office settings to working from home, Shreve has seen an increase in hand- and wrist-related issues.

He insists there are options available to make spaces ideal for one’s overall health.

“Most people are working from home, so they’re working longer hours, sitting in front of a computer screen without taking breaks and not making their area ergonomically sound,” he says. “Things like wrist braces and placing your hands and elbows comfortably can prevent ailments like carpal tunnel. Also, taking breaks to ensure your muscles, and you, can have time to rest in between tasks is important.”

9600 Broadway Extension Oklahoma City, OK 73114

(405) 230-9270 www.mcboh.com

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Doctor Profiles

Norman Regional Health System D R . B R E T T D E E S , D R . K Y L E TOA L , D R . A R C H A N A G A U TA M , D R . N A M A L I P I E R S O N A N D D R . C L AY C O C H R A N

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he Norman Regional Health System has been a staple for the region’s health since its founding on June 2, 1946. Today, the multi-campus system, stretching throughout south central Oklahoma, provides numerous medical services overseen by specialists within each field. With more than 350 credentialed physicians on staff, Norman Regional Health Systems and its faculty are dedicated to the mission of serving the community through health and wellness care.

Kyle Toal, M.D., is a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon with a specialty in cardiovascular surgery. Upon graduating from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Toal completed his fellowship involving cardiovascular physiology at Massachusetts General in Boston, then returned to the OU Health Sciences Center to complete his residency in thoracic surgery. For more than 30 years, Toal has focused on medical procedures including coronary bypass, valve repair and replacement, lung

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resections and more.

Namali Pierson, M.D., became an oncologist after completing her medical school and fellowship training at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, then fulfilling her residency at the OU Stephenson Cancer Center.

Before medical school, Pierson received her Bachelor’s degree from the Wellesley College in Massachusetts with a double major in Biology and English. Afterward, she became a Research Fellow in the cancer research lab at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Pierson attributes her passion toward oncology to her involvement in cancer research and, “being on the forefront of medicine.”

Archana Gautam, M.D., is a board-certified interventional cardiologist, specializing in cardiology and venous diseases. Gautam graduated from the Gandhi Medical School in Secunderabad, India, eventually completing her residency at the University of Southwest Texas and her fellowship training at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. With a focused interest

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in procedures such as coronary artery stents, atrial septal defect repair, varicose vein treatment and more, Gautam offers her services at locations in Norman, Moore, Newcastle and Noble.

Brett Dees, M.D., is the director of the Oklahoma Headache Center in Norman and is a board-certified neurologist with a specialty in migraines and facial pain disorders. Dees completed his neurology residency and medical degree at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. For more than nine years, Dees has focused on the medically-refractory headache – a cranial pain difficult to treat – and difficult diagnoses involving the nervous system. Dees is also a member of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society.

Clay Cochran, M.D., after receiving his medical degree from the University

of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and completing his residency at Wake Forest University Baptist Health, became a neurosurgeon operating out of Norman and Moore. Cochran would later finish his fellowship training at the University of Louisville Dept. of Neurosurgery. His specialties include back surgery, including minimally-invasive techniques and fusion, cranial surgery and more.

Tony Tran, M.D., is a gastroenterologist operating out of the Norman Regional Hospital, West Norman Endoscopy Center and the Medical Plaza Endoscopy Unit. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, Tran completed his residency and fellowship at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, later becoming a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine & Gastroenterology.

Norman Regional Health System 3300 HealthPlex Parkway, Norman, OK 73072

(405) 307-1000 NormanRegional.com

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Doctor Profiles

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Dr. Anu Bajaj P L A ST I C S U R G E O N

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8106 N May Ave. Suite B, Oklahoma City, OK 73118

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(405) 810-8448 bajajplasticsurgery.com

r. Anu Bajaj of Bajaj Plastic Surgery in Oklahoma City is a highly respected plastic surgeon, focusing on the spectrum of plastic surgery including facial surgery, body contouring, breast reconstruction and minimally invasive procedures. She believes that looking and feeling good is a source of empowerment.

Her interest in aesthetic surgery started in medical school, when witnessing plastic surgeons reconstruct patients after cancer resection surgery. After completing residency and fellowship training, she returned home to OKC in 2007 to work alongside her father, Dr. Paramjit Bajaj, eventually relocating in 2014 to a custom-built office with an accredited operating room.

She works to revise negative stereotypes toward plastic surgery by providing comprehensive consultations to understand the patient’s lifestyle and long-term goals.

“When most people read about people in the aesthetic and cosmetic world, they never talk about the reconstructive aspect of this field; mostly because the majority don’t have any experience in it,” Dr. Bajaj says. “There’s this stigma that plastic surgery is only about appearances and those who get it are rich or shallow. Most don’t realize how many different people seek out plastic surgery every day.”

According to Dr. Bajaj, plastic surgery often has positive effects on a patient’s mental health, thus improving his or her wellness and quality of life.

“Getting plastic surgery done is just as much about the inside as it is outside,” she says. “For many people, these surgical procedures help in boosting confidence and self-esteem. It’s an opportunity to take better care of yourself and put yourself first, especially in a world where we’re not always encouraged to put ourselves first.”

Dr. Bajaj has been recognized by the Oklahoma County Medical Society after completing the society’s sponsored Leadership Academy and the Pathways to Leadership Program from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. She is also an artist, a long-distance runner, a wife and mother to four stepsons and four dogs.

Doctor Profiles

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Jacob Haynes, MD HIP AND KNEE REPLACEMENT SPECIALIST

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r. Jacob Haynes is a fellowshiptrained adult hip and knee reconstruction surgeon with the Oklahoma Sports & Orthopedics Institute. The Iowa native came to Oklahoma as a national merit scholar, and completed his medical training at the Oklahoma College of Medicine, where he graduated at the top of his class. That was followed by a residency in orthopedic surgery at Washington University in St. Louis and an adult hip and knee reconstruction fellowship in Virginia at the Anderson Orthopaedic Clinic.

Haynes is one of the few surgeons in Oklahoma performing the direct anterior approach to hip replacement.

“The incision is on the front of the leg, using the natural plane between muscles, rather than cutting through muscle tissue,” Haynes explained. “It’s a slightly more complex procedure. Recovery requires less pain medications and fewer restrictions on motion.”

Haynes also specializes in minimally invasive knee replacement surgery, robotic and computer-assisted joint replacement and is one of the first surgeons to bring same day discharge joint replacement to Oklahoma City.

This is an excellent option for healthy, more active patients who do not want to spend a night in the hospital.

Upwards of 90 percent of Haynes’s patients come to him for pain and mechanical issues – swelling, catching, etc. – related to arthritis, especially degenerative arthritis, and “wear and tear” due to age. Many have already tried the non-surgical approaches like injectables and physical therapy, but have not achieved the relief they desire.

“When the non-surgical options have failed, a patient becomes a candidate for knee or hip replacement,” he said. “Usually it’s a case of advanced arthritis, and they’ve been experiencing pain for quite some time.”

drjacobhaynes.com Oklahoma City

Edmond

1110 N. Lee Ave. Suite 200 Oklahoma City, OK 73103

13401 N. Western Ave. Suite 301 Oklahoma City, OK 73134 (405) 218-2530

(405) 218-2530

Midwest City 3400 S Douglas Blvd Suite 302 Oklahoma City, OK 73150 (405) 218-2530

Shawnee SSM Shawnee Clinic 3214 J D Kethley Rd Shawnee, OK 74804 (405) 218-2530 405MAGAZINE.COM

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Doctor Profiles

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Steven R. Sarkisian, Jr., MD FO U N D E R A N D C E O O F O K L A H O M A E Y E S U R G E O N S , P L LC

F

Oklahoma Eye Surgeons 5600 N Portland Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73112

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405.943.4413 okeyesurgeons.com

ounder and CEO of Oklahoma Eye Surgeons, PLLC, Dr. Steve Sarkisian specializes in premium cataract surgery and glaucoma surgery.

The mission of OES is for every patient to feel well loved and to serve each one with excellence, grace, and compassion. Dr. Sarkisian is dedicated to helping his patients be free of glasses after cataract surgery, and also with innovation in minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). He was the first surgeon in Oklahoma to implant the PanOptix trifocal lens, with or without toric correction for astigmatism, and he was also the first surgeon in the state to perform the iStent, iStent Inject, Hydrus, the Xen Gel Stent and canaloplasty. He was the first surgeon in the USA to use the OMNI device, and the first in the world to use the TRAB360 and VISCO360 surgical systems, the predicate devices to the OMNI. Dr. Sarkisian is the former director of the glaucoma service and fellowship at the Dean McGee Eye Institute and former Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.

Dr. Sarkisian obtained his undergraduate degree from Wheaton College, outside Chicago, IL, received a Certificate in Christian Studies from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA, received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA and completed a residency in Ophthalmology at the State University of New York (SUNY Downstate) in Brooklyn, NY. After a fellowship in glaucoma surgery at UT Memphis, he was on faculty there for two years before being recruited by OU. Due to his involvement in the development of new glaucoma technology, he has been active in presenting and publishing his work both in America and internationally. He co-authored the book “Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery, a Practical Guide�.

Dr. Sarkisian currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and also on the Editorial Board of Glaucoma Today and Glaucoma Physician.

Dr. Sarkisian is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.

He and his wife Anne have four children and reside in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Doctor Profiles

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Dr. Latisha Heinlen & Dr. Heidi Rogers B OA R D - C E R T I F I E D R H E U M ATO LO G I ST S

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r. Latisha Heinlen founded the Rheumatology Associates of Oklahoma (RAO) in July 2017, after finishing her twoyear fellowship training in rheumatology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Dr. Heinlen, Dr Rogers and RAO specialists focus on treatment of rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and ankylosing spondylitis using an in-house laboratory, on-site x-ray services and an infusion center attached to the clinic for patient convenience.

Dr. Heinlen began her rheumatological practice with the intention of providing a unique service within the community, allowing better access to patients needing rheumatologic care. A central location and patient convenience were two of the driving factors for Dr. Heinlen and her newest physician partner, Dr. Heidi Rogers. RAO now has three offices in Oklahoma City, Edmond and south Oklahoma City.

Dr. Rogers, like Dr. Heinlen, is a board-certified rheumatologist. She attended the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, later doing her residency at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center, then fellowship at the University of Louisville and Kentucky.

“There’s a huge need for rheumatologists in the Oklahoma City area” Dr. Heinlen says. “We know that early diagnosis and treatment of our diseases leads to better outcomes, so improving access to rheumatology provides better long-term treatment for patients. I started the practice because I’ve worked in other parts of healthcare and I wanted to have a place where any and all patient needs could be met.”

Board certification is the standard for all physicians at RAO, as this national recognition of training means the physicians have completed appropriate training in rheumatology and passed the national exam to show their competency in the field. Dr Heinlen says, “If you need to see a specialist, make sure they are an expert in the field with the proper training and certification. In the end, we want what’s best for patients.”

Rheumatology Associates of Oklahoma 6516 N Olie Ave. Suite G, Oklahoma City, OK 73116

(405) 608-8060 raoklahoma.com

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Doctor Profiles

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Dr. Dr. Greg Greg Rohde, Rohde, Dr. Dr. Vytautas Vytautas Ringus Ringus and and Dr. Dr. David David Bobb Bobb PODIATRIST, PODIATRIST,ORTHOPEDIC ORTHOPEDICSURGEON SURGEON AND ANDORTHOPEDIC ORTHOPEDICSURGEON SURGEON

U

Congratulations to Dr. Rohde for winning Top Podiatrist and Rising Star, and to Dr.’s Ringus and Bobb for winning Top Orthopedic Surgeon!

Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center 825 E Robinson, Norman OK 73071 orthonorman.com (405) 364-7900

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sing the most innovative approaches to 21st century medicine, the Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center in Norman has one goal: getting people back in the game. Whether you’re a superstar on the field or at home, physicians at OSC offer a variety of expertises including sports medicine, general orthopaedics, arthritis, fractures, total hip replacements and many more. OSC provides fullservice care with on-site Physical Therapy and an Open MRI. This ensures excellence in diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation for their patients.

One of the attributes that separates OSC from other sports medicine centers is the well-trained, highlyskilled staff, including podiatrist Greg Rohde, M.D., and orthopedic surgeons Vytautas Ringus, M.D. and David Bobb, M.D. Rohde has been with OSC for over two years, specializing in operations involving tendon repair of the foot and ankle, rearfoot construction, arthritis and others. Upon graduating from the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery at Des Moines University in Iowa, Rohde completed his surgical residencies at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Surgical Hospital of Oklahoma.

When it comes to providing care for patients, Rohde acknowledges that in order for people to recover, they must understand plainly what is wrong and the best method of recovery. All OSC providers share this mindset and recognize that since injuries are stressful, confusing, and overwhelming, it is imperative to ensure patients understand, and are involved in, their care.

Originally from Chicago, Dr. Ringus is a fellowshiptrained foot and ankle surgeon. After graduating from Cornell with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Ringus graduated from the University of Illinois with an M.D., and later completed his internship and residency at West Virginia University.

For 26 years, Dr. Bobb has practiced shoulder and sports medicine in Norman. Bobb graduated from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in 1992 and completed his internship and residency at the University of Tennessee-Campbell clinic.

Dr. Rohde, Dr. Ringus and Dr. Bobb are just three of OSC’s seven highly skilled surgeons. OSC has clinics throughout the state and multiple medical facility affiliations to conveniently service all of your needs.

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Doctor Profiles

Ralph Hester, MD C L I N I CA L A S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R The Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) has provided advanced eye care services since 1975.

Alongside vision care, DMEI has partnered with the University of Oklahoma (OU) to function as the OU Department of Ophthalmology, teaching generations of ophthalmologists. Clinical Associate Professor Dr. Ralph Hester is one of the surgeons responsible for this education.

Dr. Hester received his medical education at OU. He then did his residency at DMEI/OU and began working at DMEI in 1991, focusing on comprehensive ophthalmology.

“Since we’re a multispecialty clinic, we can use our resources to concentrate on different aspects of ophthalmology and help more people,” Dr. Hester says. “Over the years, I’ve honed my practice toward premium cataract services. In this, we’re using special lenses and lasers to eliminate or reduce the necessity for glasses post-cataract surgery. As technology has advanced, I became excited to be able to give people another chance to experience their youthful vision again.”

As new patients present new opportunities, long-lasting vision continues to be the goal for Dr. Hester and DMEI.“We give our patients continuity of care by being there at each step of the process,” he says. “Being a part of DMEI allows us to stay on the cutting edge of new technologies such as corrective lasers and advanced implant lenses, to provide better care to our clients.”

Dean McGee Eye Institute 3500 NW 56th St #101, Oklahoma City, OK 73112

405.271.9500 dmei.org/providers/ralph-b-hester-iii

David Jackson, MD C L I N I CA L A S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R David Jackson, MD is the Medical Director of the Stephenson Refractive Surgery Center and lead refractive surgeon at the Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma City. He completed his residency and fellowship at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. For 19 years, he has specialized in procedures that greatly minimize a patient’s reliance on glasses, such as Premium Cataract Surgery, LASIK, and Refractive Surgery.

“Those that desire one of these surgeries choose it for a number of reasons, like their contact lenses not fitting correctly, keeping up with their glasses, cataract formation, even the fogging of glasses while wearing a mask during COVID-19,” Dr. Jackson says. “The procedure has to be right for the patient, and we have to know it’s something with which they’re comfortable.

But it is remarkable to see the look on their faces when they can see sharply again, or for the first time, without the need for glasses or contacts.”

To prevent future ocular damage, he insists on a comprehensive eye exam and understanding a patient’s family history of illnesses involving vision. According to Dr.Jackson, this relationship between patient and physician is crucial to obtaining the best surgical outcomes and maximizing eye health.

“I want to do well by the patient. I want them to know that I will provide expert care to them before, during, and after the surgery. This dedication to excellence is part of our mission at the Eye Institute and is what I’m most proud of working at Dean McGee.” Dean McGee Eye Institute 608 Stanton L. Young Blvd., OKC, OK 73104

405.271.2500 dmei.org/providers/david-w-jackson

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Doctor Profiles

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Dr. William Barnes, MD U R O LO G I ST Dr. William Barnes has specialized in treating urinary stones, bladder conditions, incontinence and cancers involving the kidney, bladder and prostate for more than 40 years, beginning at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. His residency was at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Recently, Dr. Barnes has begun to sub-specialize, focusing on vasectomies, benign prostate issues and male issues with testosterone to provide more services to current and future patients – but he first grew interested in urology after witnessing the benefits endoscopic treatments could provide for patients, especially those in urgent situations.

“Most of the time, people don’t ever think about things like their kidneys, their bladder or their prostate until something is very wrong,” Dr. Barnes says. “These issues typically present themselves in recurring signs for both males and females, so it’s best to stay on top of these problems before they become unmanageable.”

Dr. Barnes understands some of the preventative measures a person can take to improve their internal health. “Always, the advice I give to my patients is to drink more water,” Dr. Barnes says. “Drinking adequate fluids, mitigating smoking and maintaining a manageable weight all reduce the risk of health issues like kidney stones and heart disease. Generally, it all comes down to living healthier in the long run, rather than short, healthy bursts every once in a while.”

Integris Southwest Medical Center Urologist 4200 S Douglas Ave Suite 104, Oklahoma City, OK 73109

405.644.5175 wfbarnesmd.com

ASK THE EXPERTS:

Health & Wellness Coming February 2021 It’s a new year in the OKC metro, and that means consumers are considering ways they can improve their lives. From nutritional consulting to personal training to wellness coaching to massage therapy, there’s no shortage of professionals who can help our readers reach their resolutions. In this section, you can highlight your expertise on a relevant topic of your choice by answering a few frequently asked questions.

For more information about this issue and to discuss a comprehensive advertising plan, email info@405magazine.com or call 405.842.2266

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Pandemic Winter L O C A L H E A LT H C A R E W O R K E R S S H A R E F R O N T- L I N E COVID STORIES

COVID fatigue has many faces. Some are shown in maskless gatherings, others are seen in weary and worn healthcare workers laden in layers of protective equipment.

As we hopefully begin to turn a corner, we asked three local healthcare heroes in this deadly battle to share their experiences of the pandemic. Here are their stories.

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BRENT BROWN, M.D. Brent Brown, M.D., is the Barry A. Gray Professor-in-Chief of the Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine Medical Director at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center. Since joining the OU Medical faculty in 1993, Brown focuses his expertise on conditions involving lung diseases including interventional pulmonary, asthma and ARDS – Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

He describes former critical care areas of the hospital as tame by today’s standards as COVID-19 cases continue to increase.

According to Brown, occasional monitor beeps and routine vitals have been replaced by a cacophony of noise, distress and emotional turmoil.

“This is uncommonly painful, like watching one of those ER shows with everything happening at once,” Brown says. “Last month, I had more people die in critical care than any given month in my career.

It’s hard not to be overwhelmed.”

Brown attributes much of the success and personal sacrifices to the nurses, assisting patients of all severity from beginning to end; oftentimes, the once metaphorical end becoming literal.

“The nurses have it hardest of all because they’re the ones who see multiple patients each day, with only minor breaks in between to go to the bathroom or grab a drink,” he says. “In between those times, they’re putting patients on ventilators and are more than likely the last people some patients see before they pass away. The toll these frontline workers have taken has been staggering.”

News about upcoming vaccines in Oklahoma has Brown hopeful, yet vigilant.

“The incoming vaccines have been the best news medical professionals have had in six months,” he says. “We have a light at the end of the tunnel, but if we could get more serious about things like wearing masks in public [and] avoiding gathering, and persevere for a few months longer, things will begin to get better.”

– BR ANDON KING

TANDI EILERT, R.N .

BREANE GRIFFITH, R.N.

Tandi Eilert, 52, is a nurse at SSM St. Anthony Hospital in Midtown.

Her wing – 5 Southeast – has always been what she calls a “neuro stepdown,” or one level below intensive care for patients recovering from spinal or brain surgery or neurological issues such as a stroke.

Now, like much of St. Anthony, it’s a COVID wing.

With 16 beds in the wing and only six nurses on duty at a time, Eilert says her 12-hour shifts have become exhausting. Many of the staff at St. Anthony have had to become traveling nurses to deal with shortages in satellite facilities. That leaves fewer staff at the Midtown location to deal with an increasing number of COVID patients there, including the staff itself. Eilert says almost everyone on her wing has contracted COVID-19.

“We are always full. As soon as one bed is cleared, there’s another patient who needs it. We are continually full,” she says. “One of the reasons we’re working more hours is that the patients are way more critical than they have been. They have to be monitored carefully … Their conditions can change so quickly. That’s been one of the hardest things.”

One such patient, Eilert said, was a man in his 50s whom she took time to get to know.

“He was laughing, talking to his family, in good spirits, sitting in a recliner. His wife had called several times that day. She kept asking if he was OK. I kept telling her he is doing well, and his vital signs are good,” Eilert says. “When I came back the next morning, I learned that he had passed away that night. It makes my heart hurt thinking about it. His wife had no idea when she brought him into the hospital that it was the last time she was going to see him.”

Eilert said the emotional toll, like the virus, will have lasting effects.

“We say this is the new normal, but this is not normal,” she says.

“We’re not used to seeing this many deaths. If it weren’t for the support of coworkers, I don’t know how we’d get through this.”

– MELISSA MERCER HOWELL

Breane Griffith is the chief nursing officer at AllianceHealth Seminole, a small community approximately 60 miles east of the metro. Griffith commutes to Seminole from Wewoka, an even smaller community, where she lives with her husband and three kids, all of whom have had COVID. A 2007 graduate from East Central University in Ada, most of her nursing career was in emergency care; she was an emergency room manager for five years before becoming an administrator.

As someone who works in a rural hospital, she has seen the impact COVID is having on rural hospitals – institutions that were already on the edge of financial danger prior to the pandemic.

“The largest impact on rural hospitals has been bed availability at hospitals that provide a higher level of care for our community,” she says. “Lack of capacity in the metro higher-acuity hospitals means that patients are being transferred farther away from Seminole, and this is also impacting the EMS services that transfer the patients.”

A secondary issue for the hospitals that is also affecting large urban facilities is nurse staffing. Griffith said availability is down due to greater needs, and that drives up the cost of agency nurses, thus adding to the precarious financial situations at rural hospitals.

In addition to the job and financial stressors, nurses are dealing with an often uncooperative and unsympathetic public. “Our caregivers are working every day to fight COVID-19, and we are asking the community to honor them by taking all precautions to help slow the spread,” Griffith says. “Wearing a mask and distancing yourself from others are the best options we have to keep people healthy and prevent more deaths.”

Families, too, are feeling the burden of increased restrictions, a reality that has been well reported. Visitation is now restricted to video or phone calls, and that has a negative effect on both patient and family.

“The family of every patient, COVID and non-COVID, has been impacted negatively by this pandemic due to visitation restrictions,” she says. “Hospital staff are staying connected with the family members by giving phone updates and helping patients with video calls with their family, and while these methods are safe and necessary, they do not replace the impact of being able to hug or hold your loved one’s hand.”

– GREG HORTON 405MAGAZINE.COM

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Distinctive designs.

Exceptional home furnishings.

4 0 5 .6 08 . 8 8 9 9 | 3 4 0 9 S. B ro ad way, S u i te 1 0 0, Ed m o n d ( 3 3 rd & B ro ad way) | t rad i t i o n s e d m o n d .c o m

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Dining Getting Healthy-ish for the New Year

Cafe 501 has been on Classen Curve for 10 years.

Founder Pete Holloway talks about his 40+ years in hospitality, including his reasoning for bringing “healthy-ish� food to the Curve. Page 56

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DINING

Classen Curve’s Magic Number Cafe 501 celebrates a decade of delicious decisions

BY GREG HORTON | PHOTOS BY LE XI HOEBING

ete Holloway has been in the restaurant business for 44 years. In 2020, the original Cafe 501 in Edmond turned 25.

The Classen Curve location turned 10.

“I’ve been up for parole twice, and they said, ‘No,’” Holloway says with a laugh. Truly, he loves the business, and he’s helped launch the careers of many in the metro’s hospitality scene.

“The key to longevity?” He repeats the question I ask. “Readjusting. Listening to guests. Maybe even being a little aggressive about trying new things.”

The Classen Curve location was one of those new things – once he created it. The original Cafe 501, three blocks from the home he bought when his family moved to Edmond, was very much a neighborhood restaurant. A steakhouse would follow, sharing space with the cafe, and then a po’ boy concept before the Martini Lounge, now Sparrow Italian. The Holloways were an Edmond family with Edmond concepts.

“I just thought Oklahoma City could use a 501,” Holloway says of his decision to open a new location.

“Classen Curve was where we landed, but I kicked a lot of tires before then.”

Cafe 501 was always the platypus – so to speak – of the company. Turns out, people really dig platypuses.

“There was never a definite philosophy with 501,” Holloway said. “It’s not like there was a signature dish or specific focus you could hang your hat on: steak, Italian food, that sort of thing. We didn’t have red meat at first, and we were healthy-ish compared to the market at the time.”

The “ish” is important, because some of the cafe’s bestsellers are cookies and desserts. The chocolate crinkle is just a chocolate cookie tossed in powdered sugar, so it’s simple, but it’s also something you want all the time once you try one – to say nothing of the cornflake cookie.

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Chef Joel Wingate’s menu includes everything from indulgent comfort like chicken fried steaks to sensible, healthy options like creative salads and delicious bowls.

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Cafe 501 5825 NW Grand Blvd hrgok.com

TA S T E

“It’s tough when you don’t know what item is your foundation,” Holloway continues. “But it’s also allowed for a lot of experimentation.”

That experimentation shows up on the current menu, overseen by Chef Joel Wingate. The rice bowls are popular and healthy-ish, but one of the best items is the spicy fried shrimp (Pop Rocks), and flavoraware servers recommend adding them to the rice bowls. While that pretty much removes the healthy from the -ish, the result is delicious. Staple items such as meatloaf, served with cream gravy, chicken-fried steak and fried chicken also are mainstays.

“We used to do a pan gravy with the meatloaf,” Wingate says, “but I like the white gravy. It’s different, but it works.” He is 100 percent correct. I balked when I first saw it hit the table, but one taste and I was in. It’s beef and gravy; impossible not to love the combination.

Cafe 501 serves up creative, flavorful salads, too, and it really is possible now to make healthy (without the –ish) choices there, but you don’t have to. That’s what a good restaurant offers: The guest gets to decide between the angel and the devil.

Victoria Solorzano; Keeley Walker, CNP; & Lindsey McElvaney

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DINING

A Dietary Difference Non-miraculous, but sustainable, changes for better health

BY GREG HORTON | PHOTO BY LE XI HOEBING

t’s January, a time to re-examine those promises we make every year to try to eat better. Rather than attempting to figure out what the newest “superfood” is – a marketing, not nutrition, term – we decided to ask a real dietician and a popular chef whose specialty is healthy eating what we could change in 2021 that would make a difference.

Umo Callins is a registered dietician nutritionist, and board-certified sports dietician, who works with serious athletes as well as regular folks to help them change behaviors that lead to poor nutrition.

What we wish she’d said: “There are shortcuts.

Eat these berries. They’ll fix everything.”

I

T H E

The unfortunate reality: “I see people come through my doors all the time who get their ideas about health and nutrition from social media,” Callins (actually) says. “There are no shortcuts.

You need a balance of nutrients, quality proteins, non-starchy vegetables and portion regulation.”

Emma Ryan, owner of Plant in Oklahoma City, says eating well doesn’t have to be complicated.

“It’s important to break ‘diet culture,’” says Ryan, a popular chef, instructor and motivational speaker. Her culinary focus is plantbased foods, but she’s more focused on healthy eating than categories.

“Two things everyone can add to their normal diets are leafy greens and whole grains,” Ryan says. “Leafy greens can come in many shapes and sizes. You may think of spinach, kale, romaine, arugula, spring mix, Swiss chard, rainbow chard, butter lettuce, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce or more. Consuming raw leafy greens on a daily basis can dramatically change your day-to-day wellbeing.”

Leafy greens help fill what Callins calls nutritional gaps – those micronutrients, trace minerals and other beneficial components too many of us don’t get in our fast-food-filled,

D I S H

highly processed regimens. “It’s particularly important to pay attention to calorie intake now, too, since many of us are working from home, which also means we need to remember to move around more,” Callins says.

As for the whole grains, Ryan said there are many ways to incorporate them into our diets, including overnight oats, quinoa tacos, rice bowls, etc.

Thinking creatively, but simply, is one of the keys, according to Callins. “Mushrooms are an excellent extender for ground beef or turkey,” she says. “Diced fine, they blend into the texture of the meat and add nutrients. You can do things like add more fresh veggies to pasta sauces.”

To facilitate some of this, services like LocalFarmOK.com and Urban Agrarian connect Oklahomans to fresh produce and other products from Oklahoma farmers. Local Farm OK even delivers to your door. You get access to fresh, healthy food that can easily be added to your normal diet, and you get to help Oklahoma farmers. Chef Ryan has also provided a couple of recipes to get you started; they’re included with this story on the 405 Magazine website at 405magazine.com.

Plant 1120 N Walker Ave, plantokc.com

Cauliflower Tikka Masala, a recipe from Chef Emma Ryan.

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T H E

D R I N K

Grey Sweater’s cocktails are as unique and flavorful as its food.

Fantastic Voyage Adventurous, expertly mixed cocktails at Grey Sweater

BY GREG HORTON | PHOTO BY LE XI HOEBING

homas Upshaw’s job is to pair cocktails with the extraordinary food at Grey Sweater. For a bartender, this is either the greatest or scariest (or both) job ever. Chef Andrew Black’s tasting menu concept in Deep Deuce continues to garner national attention – as well as the 405 Magazine cover in November – and rightly so; the team offers a culinary experience like no other in the state.

“We wanted guests to experience the same creativity with cocktails, too,” Black says, “and Thomas is perfect for the task.

He’s smart, creative, very talented.”

Upshaw worked in a few bars, including the now defunct, but uber-creative, Savings & Loan when it first opened. The Uptown 23rd cocktail lounge was a mecca for bartenders who wanted to push the boundaries of mixology. Ultimately, though, it’s not about the bartender; it’s about the guest experience, something Upshaw understands well.

“I really want our guests to enjoy the people they’re with,” he says, “so the cocktails need to be something they love, something they can talk about. But I don’t want to overthink things.”

The Cocktail Journey is one of the options at Grey Sweater, and like the dining experience, this cocktail experience is a distinct marvel. For $60, Upshaw interviews the guest, ascertains likes, dislikes, allergies and level of adventurousness, and then creates a three-cocktail “journey” that introduces bar guests to new flavors, new combinations and even new spirits.

During one interaction, he convinced a guest to try a drink with gin, not vodka. Noticing the skepticism on the guest’s face, he said, “If you don’t like it, I’ll make you something else, but I like to use dry gin in place of vodka when it makes sense.”

The drink was stellar, of course, so the gentleman had a great cocktail and gained an expanded palate. Upshaw’s demeanor is more evangelist-scientist than salesman, so guests tend to trust his motivation.

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I sat down for my journey, and he said, “I hope you like Chartreuse,” to which I replied, “Yellow, but I hate green.”

“Your third drink is green Chartreuse,” Upshaw said. It’s the moment when you decide you’re along for the ride (or in this case, journey), and trust the bartender. The third drink was a clarified “punch” with Chartreuse as the main ingredient – and it was stunning. I now know I don’t always hate green Chartreuse.

Upshaw’s nerdy side emerges when he considers what flavor combinations to deploy. “For your first cocktail, I made tepache, with fermented prickly pears.”

Tepache? Yes, the learning curve can be somewhat steep, but tepache is a drink popular in Mexican culture made from fermented pineapples. Upshaw simply used prickly pears instead. The Pramble, a riff on a classic bramble, relied on Rogue Pine Spruce Gin as the base, and a house-made pomegranate Grenadine for sweetness. Still, the drink bordered on dry, and the interplay of flavors, including smoked chili bitters, was up to the task of matching the food in terms of quality, beauty and complexity.

Like the dining journey at Grey Sweater, the Cocktail Journey is a deep dive into new ingredients, beautiful presentations and complex, delicious and often whimsical flavor combinations.

Grey Sweater 100 NE 4th St greysweaterokc.com

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Kyle Goodwin & William “Billy� Lewis ATTORNEYS

Goodwin / Lewis is a boutique law firm in downtown Oklahoma City focusing on commercial litigation, ranging from start-ups to regional businesses. Their specialized representation has provided clients from banks, construction companies, energy firms and others with the tenacity and experience required to ensure businesses are represented through every step of the legal process.

o Goodwin Lewis, PLLC

420 NW 6th ST, 2nd Floor, OKC, OK 73012 goodwinlewis.com | 405-900-5700

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Home Practical Sophistication

R A C HE L M A U CIE R I

Style meets kid-friendly accessibility in Emily and Matt Thompson’s Crown Heights home. Page 64

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IN THE 405

Raise a Glass, Please Here’s to you, 2021 B Y S A R A G A E WAT E R S PHOTO BY R ACHEL MAUCIERI

Toasting the new year provides a time for reflection and an opportunity to splurge a little.

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E N T E R TA I N I N G

020 is in the past. 2021 is here. No matter the current state of things, I think we can all agree that toasting to a new year is wholeheartedly needed.

While you may be tempted to just pop the cork and skip the glass, remember there is a point to savoring that glass of something, be it a cocktail or mocktail, sparkling cider or champagne. Toasting is traditionally a moment for reflection – a little bit, at least.

Perhaps it’s a moment to express optimism for the next year, be thankful for getting to a new one or just say a literal goodbye to the last one.

Whatever it may be, splurge a bit ... bring out the beautiful flutes or coupes, new or vintage, and pour away.

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On the entertaining front – once we get back to welcoming people into our homes – a table set with poured drinks by the front door is a welcome and beautiful setup, and it’s a great way to start off the gathering. In addition, mixing glassware can be visually pleasing.

So, here’s to you. Here’s to a new year and new beginnings. Above all else, here is to knowing we made it to 2021. And that, friends, is worth toasting.

Editor’s note: All glassware is private collection.

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Crafting Community Creativity

H O M E

W I T H

Sara Cowan’s craft area complete with decoupage sewing machine and colorful pieces of art.

At home with Sara Cowan B Y S A R A G A E WAT E R S PHOTOS BY R ACHEL MAUCIERI

For Sara Cowan, art and the creative process are about more than just creating something beautiful. While that is true of the result, her passion for creating art and helping others experience it makes the material all the more meaningful.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND? Norman is my hometown, and I’m lucky to live close enough to my parents to see them regularly. As a young child, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, who was a teacher and an artist, and she taught me how to sew and create. I find myself doing a lot of things I know she’d enjoy.

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE AT FACTORY OBSCURA?

I earned a degree in journalism from UCO, which led me to work at the Tulsa World for a few years before I moved to Oxford, England.

Living abroad made me miss certain parts of Oklahoma, specifically the friendliness of Okies.

When I returned to Oklahoma, I taught high school journalism at Millwood, which I really enjoyed. But my teacher salary barely covered my son’s daycare expenses so I stayed home with him for a few years, using sewing and crafting as my creative outlet.

I started painting as a meditative, calming practice, and after a couple of years I had developed a style I was proud of. Dusty Gilpin gave me my first solo show at Tree & Leaf. That was around the same time I created the OKC ART TEAM as a way to encourage creatives to call themselves artists no matter their experience level, especially kids. I still love to see the stickers on people’s cars. I feel like those are my people.

When the Factory Obscura collective was forming and starting to build the first immersive experience, SHIFT, at Current Studio, I was very interested in becoming involved and I expressed that. When it came time to plan the Midnight Dinner (fundraiser), I was invited to join that project because I had relevant skills, and have been part of Factory Obscura ever since.

FOR THE READERS THAT DON’T KNOW ABOUT FACTORY OBSCURA AND “MIXTAPE,” COULD YOU GIVE A LITTLE BACKGROUND? Factory Obscura is a collective of

about 30 Oklahoma City artists of many disciplines who work together to build immersive experiences.

“MixTape” is our third project and our first permanent one. It’s a 6,000-square-foot attraction, and people of all ages love it. It’s an artistic expression of six different emotions that you might express when you make someone a mixtape – there are rooms for joy, melancholy, love and more.

WHAT MEDIUM DO YOU MOST LIKE TO CREATE WITH? ... OR PICK A FEW! Murals are always so much fun! I

would love to paint murals every month. At home, acrylic paints are my preferred medium, and I use those on birch panels. I always use very colorful and sometimes chaotic color schemes. I’m also a “sewist” and quilter.

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IN THE 405

Easygoing Elegance Emily and Matt Thompson’s Crown Heights home features sensibly sophisticated style

BY E VIE KLOPP HOLZER | PHOTOS BY R ACHEL MAUCIERI

even-year-old Mack Thompson walked upstairs to his bedroom, not knowing of the surprise inside. It was his birthday, the day of the big reveal – months of covert planning come to fruition.

Conspiring secretly with interior designer Ivy Pierce, Emily and Matt Thompson transformed their son’s bedroom from uninteresting neutrals to a “Boomer Sooner” retreat. Vintage University of Oklahoma pennants were tacked to the walls. Drab gray bedding was replaced with spirited crimsonand-cream houndstooth. An indigo-and-red Kantha quilt (hand-selected

by Pierce while traveling in India) was added to make it feel more like a big-boy room. A monogrammed pillow on the bed confirmed that, indeed, this space was Mack’s.

“We asked him to go to his room to get something, and then… it was quiet,” Emily Thompson says.

Mack had no words. He was completely awestruck – and perhaps slightly confused.

“He was just walking around the room with his mouth open,” Thompson says, laughing. “He couldn’t believe it was his.”

It’s not apparent when you tour the Thompsons’ well-appointed home – classic and uncluttered, traditionally styled with crisp whites, varying blues and notable artwork – but most home decisions were made with their two small children in mind.

“We wanted something kid-friendly and comfortable,” Thompson says.

“We couldn’t be worried about sitting on the chairs.”

“You don’t have to sacrifice a good-looking house when you have children,” Pierce says. “For example, a lot of people think you can’t do white. We did light linen chairs in the living room, covered in Perennial Fabrics from Restoration Hardware. The fabric is bleach cleanable, which is amazing – good for kids, pets and adults.”

Another kid-friendly choice: the blue velvet ottoman (also upholstered in Perennial Fabrics) used to anchor the living room instead of a hard coffee table. A large tray placed on the ottoman provides an ideal surface for drinks and décor.

The Thompsons purchased their Crown Heights home in 2016 to gain more square footage. At the time, Emily was pregnant with Mary Stuart, their second child. The 38th Street location, across from Crown Heights Park, seemed to beckon their growing family.

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ABOVE: Monogrammed pillows by Leontine Linens are paired with a pastel watercolor pattern in the master bedroom.

BELOW: The Thompsons framed a special Feltman Brothers outfit for each child. This one in Mack’s room was the first thing purchased when they found out they were having a boy.

RIGHT: In the dining room, large painted murals by Susan Harter create a soothing, pastoral backdrop to a well-set table.

D E S I G N

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ABOVE: Emily Thompson didn’t want “a lot of fuss” in her home design, which accounts for the clean and streamlined kitchen design.

RIGHT: The Thompson family includes Matt, Emily, Mary Stuart, 3, and Mack, 7.

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JANUARY 2021

To create a fresh space before they moved in, the Thompsons hired general contractor Hunter Magness to completely renovate the 1940s property. However, the clock was ticking. The Thompsons hoped to settle into the home in just seven weeks, right before the baby’s due date. Magness’s team had little time to tackle a lengthy checklist, which included refinishing the hardwood floors, painting every room (the colors Pierce recommended), knocking down the wall between the living room and breakfast nook (to improve flow), changing out light fixtures, reconfiguring the master closet and bath area (to maximize space) and updating all the bathrooms and kitchen with new marble tile and countertops.

“Hunter was such a big part of getting us here in a timely manner,” Thompson says. “There are always little hiccups in a renovation – not everything is going to go perfectly – but they were always here to make it right.”

Thankfully, Magness and his team made his deadline. The pale pink nursery was prepared. Blackout curtains, featuring pink Greek key trim and Luciteand-brass hardware, were installed with barely a week to spare. Mary Stuart was born, and the Thompson family felt whole.

The Thompsons drastically slowed their home-project pace after move-in day. They approached interior design slowly and methodically, spending three years and taking design room by room with Pierce guiding the way.

“We wanted the home to be family-friendly, beautiful and timeless – keeping with the home’s traditional architecture,” Pierce says.

Pierce sourced antiques from places like K&N Interior Consignment to mix in with new furniture.

Cherished family pieces also found a home here. The breakfast nook features Emily’s great-grandmother’s table and chairs, upholstered in an F. Schumacher & Co. fabric, also used for the Roman shade over the kitchen sink. Pierce applied a matte laminate to the fabric for a wipeable finish.

“This table was in our breakfast room in Shawnee, in my great grandparents’ house, built in 1922,” she says. “We moved in when I was three, and my parents still live there.”

The Thompsons’ appreciation for older homes is rooted in their upbringings. Matt Thompson grew up in Crown Heights, and his parents still live in the neighborhood.

“We wanted an older home for sure,” Emily Thompson says. “The crown moldings and the built-ins make this home feel a lot like my house in Shawnee.”

Some of the home’s décor was inspired by Rivers Spencer, a New Orleans designer who specializes in blending traditional and transitional designs.

Thompson would share ideas she saw online with

D E S I G N

Pierce – like a large hand-painted mural in the dining room she saw in Spencer’s portfolio. Pierce commissioned mural artist Susan Harter, discovered via Instagram, to create two three-by-six panels of pastoral scenes to achieve this effect and create art that can go with them, if they ever move in the future.

“I feel like the choices have all been thoughtful because we weren’t rushing through it,” Thompson says.

RIGHT: Mack Thompson’s Sooner-themed bedroom features crimson-andcream houndstooth pillows and vintage OU pennants.

BELOW: The Crown Heights home features a refined color palette of blues, whites and grays.

I feel like the choices have all been thoughtful because we weren’t rushing through it – EMILY THOMPSON

Meaningful art on the walls makes this home feel distinctly theirs. The kids’ rooms each feature a Feltman Brothers outfit, framed in matching shadow boxes so they can be hung together one day. Mack’s baby blue bubble romper is the first item the Thompsons purchased when they found out they were having a boy.

Mary Stuart’s pale pink dress is the one Emily wore as a newborn coming home from the hospital. It was framed after Mary Stuart had photos taken in it. Two small abstract paintings by Marjorie Wetwiska, multi-colored with a dash of bright pink, play up the pinks in the nursery.

When Matt Thompson heard there was a family connection to artist Denise Duong (Emily’s brother-in-law is married to her cousin), he was eager to commission a family portrait. Today, Duong’s mixed-media piece is proudly displayed in the dining room. It shows the Thompsons with their late family dog and a windmill-dotted farm in the background.

“It’s one of our most prized possessions,” Thompson says. “It’s very Oklahoma with the wind sweeping down the plains.”

Art appreciation also played into Thompson’s selecting a watercolor-patterned fabric by Romo Fabrics and British impressionist artist Jessica Zoob for the master bedroom window treatments and pillows. Leontine Linens monogrammed pillows with light green applique pair beautifully with the abstract floral fabric. Thompson loves how the bedroom provides the couple a peaceful respite.

“Matt and I come in here when the day is over and we’re done with kids,” she says. “This is our space, and it feels serene.”

Just down the hall, Mack’s bedroom was the grand finale in the Thompsons’ interior design process. The room reveal occurred in July, after summer vacations were canceled and it became apparent the family wouldn’t be leaving the house any time soon. However, you won’t hear any complaining.

“We’ve been home so much since March, and we are so grateful for it.” Thompson says, adding that she sent Pierce thank-you texts while in quarantine. “We’re here all the time now, but it’s not so bad being stuck in your beautiful home.”

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Out & About Two Types of Texas Saying howdy to Houston; plus, a trio of Dallas hotels offers a variety of ways to stay and play in the metroplex, including one with a very short walk to Jerry World Page 70

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OUT & ABOUT

Houston, Hello Serious art, food and more in south Texas

BY GREG HORTON

he first invitation to Houston arrived with what seemed a bit of a challenge to courage and fortitude: “Don’t let the summer heat stop you from visiting Houston.” Ordinarily, the response would be, “I’m absolutely going to let it stop me,” but COVID intervened last year. The trip was postponed until October, which is an excellent time to be in the country’s fourth largest city, a modern version of Texas that is very un-Texas-like.

The transition from green country, small towns and ranches to Houston is abrupt: One moment you’re in the Texas you know from trips, television and American politics, and the next you’re in the state’s most diverse, cosmopolitan city.

Houston gets very little notice in Oklahoma; our destinations tend to be in a straight-ish line down I-35 – Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio – with occasional sports-related trips to Lubbock and College Station, as well as the occasional deep dive into art in Marfa.

The late, great Anthony Bourdain dedicated a “Parts Unknown” episode to Houston in 2016, signifying that it had finally become a food destination. The city has long been known for barbecue – it’s in Texas, after all – but some of the nation’s best neo-soul restaurants are there, too, including Indigo, which will close in July 2021. Pan-African restaurants and Vietnamese food abound, as does West and Central Asian cuisine. All this variety is a fairly short seven-and-a-half-hour drive from OKC.

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One moment you’re in the Texas you know from trips, television and American politics, and the next you’re cosmopolitan city.

P H O T O S P R O V ID E D

in the state’s most diverse,

R O A D

Hotel Zaza in the Museum District provided the accommodations. The poolside room was spacious – with a lounge area – and comfortable, and it included a very well-stocked minibar. The hotel is situated within walking distance of Hermann Park, Rice University’s beautiful campus, and the extraordinary Museum of Fine Arts. The Monarch Restaurant’s terrace provides seafood, chops and healthy fare with a beautiful view of the district, which is tucked away southwest of the city’s massive central business district.

The Museum of Fine Arts has an impressive and diverse collection from antiquities to the modern era, including Egyptian, Roman, Greek, early Islamic, African and Oceanian.

The collection of European painters is particularly impressive: Goya, Monet, Matisse, Botticelli and Van Gogh, among others.

The highlight of culinary arts, though, was in The Woodlands – on the northern edge of the metroplex, which means an expensive ($50) but worth it Lyft. Tris is the creation of chef Austin Simmons, whom Houstonia Magazine called “one of four chefs to watch” in 2019.

It would be a mistake to call Tris “fusion,” but

OPPOSITE PAGE: Upscale casual with a nod to elegance at TRIS. BELOW: Poolside at Zaza includes live music and excellent cocktails.

the new American style of Simmons’s food definitely draws from a bevy of ethnic influences, most particularly Japanese and Korean.

The heart of the menu can be found in two sections: the steak program and the chef’s tasting. Simmons is the omni-curious type, with a buzz of energy set well above calm that translates to his quest for flavors, solutions, techniques and combinations. His steak program is based on a Black Wagyu-Charolais crossbreed (Gyulais), which he developed. The result is intensely flavorful steak.

You can get it with kimchi brown butter, but you won’t need it.

The tasting menu is a deep dive into flavor combinations that will make you wish you lived in Houston to be closer to them. From the Hamachi sashimi with ponzu dashi to the crème brulee bread pudding, everything is mind-numbingly delicious. One of Houston’s top food writers listed Simmons’s Korean butter-poached Gulf blue crab as a top-10 must-try for the city. Honestly, it’s the best dish I had all of last year. Tris alone is worth the trip to Houston, and if you’re there for an overnighter, it’s the one place you absolutely have to try.

T R I P

Destination Dallas We have three hotels we love in the Dallas metroplex, which means three separate road trips south on I-35 for very different reasons.

Live! by Loews. One day, COVID-19 will be behind us and Jerry World (or AT&T Stadium) in Arlington will once again be overrun with Dallas Cowboys fans. If you’re headed down for a game, Live! by Loews is an easy choice.

Comfortable, modern rooms, a massive wall of televisions, excellent food and whiskey at Cut & Bourbon and no parking fee for the game; a walkway from the back of the hotel to the stadium’s entrance – maybe a five-minute journey – is one of the best amenities at this sports fan mecca.

The Adolphus. A stunning early-20thcentury homage to German castles built by one of the founders of Anheuser-Busch (Adolphus Busch), the gorgeous downtown hotel is home to two of Dallas’s premier dining destinations: The French Room and City Hall Bistro. The former is classical fine dining in a luxurious setting, with caviar, foie gras, a brilliant wine list and masterful French cuisine. City Hall Bistro is the yang to that yin, with modern sensibilities, a fun and funky wine list, stellar cocktails and fresh, beautiful southern European cuisine.

HALL Arts Hotel. Located in the arts district, the hotel named for former ambassador to Austria Kathryn Walt Hall features its own collection of contemporary art, including a mesmerizing light installation in Ellie’s restaurant (Oprah’s former private chef Eric Dreyer helms the kitchen), and pieces scattered throughout the property. The rooms are comfortable and well-appointed, and most of Dallas’s fine arts and performing arts destinations are within walking distance.

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OUT & ABOUT

Artistic Movement OKCMOA delves into op and kinetic art with Moving Vision

John Pearson (American, b. 1940) Call No. 2, 1966. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation.

BY GEORGE L ANG

ny art can move its viewers, but rarely is motion so manifest in the pieces themselves. Moving Vision: Op and Kinetic Art of the Sixties and Seventies, a new exhibit opening in February at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, delivers real action and remarkable simulations. Moving Vision is powered by some of OKCMOA’s most treasured pieces from its permanent collection, as well as loans from private collections, showcasing art that incorporates illusion, tricks of light and sculpture that does not simply stand there.

Roja Najafi, guest curator from Chandler-Gilbert College near Phoenix, Arizona, said that while Moving Vision focuses primarily on the work of artists in the 1960s and 1970s who benefited from the availability of plastics, the foundation was laid much earlier. Marcel Duchamp, the French-American Dadaist and Cubist whose “Nude Descending a Staircase” was an early and provocative example of optical or “op” art, also played a crucial role in kinetic art through later works including “The Large Glass” and 1935’s “Rotorelief.”

“Kinetic art has its roots in the explorations of Duchamp,” Najafi says. “So – like most other things, probably, in 20th century art – this work starts with Duchamp.”

Duchamp’s rejection of artistic norms greased the skids for the work of 20th century art innovators such as mobilist Alexander Calder and Fletcher Benton, whose 1984 sculpture “Folded Circle Split” is a recent op art acquisition by the museum. In addition, Duchamp’s series of swirling discs were clear influences on Tadasky (Tadusuke Kuwayama)’s 1965 acrylic “C-182” as well as Sue Fuller’s “String Composition #366” from the following year.

Najafi said that one of the key non-artistic influences for the art included in Moving Vision came before Duchamp broke down the stolid demarcations between art and design. The industrial revolution of the 19th century, with its spinning wheels and gears, helped art move beyond static displays and embrace kineticism.

“It is connected to industrialization, all of the speed of life that suddenly began from the middle of 19th century – especially, if you think of it concentrated from the middle of 19th century, all the way to futurism,” Najafi says. “If you concentrate on that, it’s definitely connected to the Industrial Revolution, industrialization and motorization.”

In curating Moving Vision, Najafi looked to landmark exhibitions that explored op and kinetic art and fostered a greater understanding and appreciation of art that works in collaboration with the eye of the beholder. One such showing was 72

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The Responsive Eye, an exhibition that was displayed in early 1965 at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Curated by William Seitz, whose scholarship on abstract expressionism helped advance the study of living artists, The Responsive Eye still is recognized as one of the most popular exhibits MoMA has staged in its history.

Upon the opening of The Responsive Eye, Seitz offered an incisive definition of both op and kinetic art.

“Unlike most previous abstract painting, these works exist less as objects to be examined than as generators of perceptual responses, of colors and relationships existing solely in vision; of forms, presences and variations often entirely different from the static stimuli by the artist,” Seitz wrote. “Such subjective experiences, brought about by simultaneous contrast, afterimages, illusions and other optical devices are entirely real to the eye, although each observer will respond to them somewhat differently. The responses are by no means merely retinal, and they vary widely from optical tensions and fusions of color or tone to sonorous interactions between hues of the spectrum, retroactive effects of flatness, advance and recession, and arrangements of shapes, lines and patterns that exert a control over perception capable of arousing delight, anxiety and even vertigo.”

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Reginald Neal (American, 1909–1992) Intersection, 1966, Lithograph and Plexiglas construction.

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Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive Oklahoma City, OK okcmoa.com

Reginald Neal (American, 1909–1992) Eight of a Maze-Blue and White, 1965, Lithograph and Plexiglas construction.

Acceptance of such work as fine art, including Calder’s mobiles, was long in coming, and Seitz fought for the expansion of art’s definition throughout his career. For her part, Najafi is continuing that tradition through her curation of Moving Vision.

“You see the snobbiness of art critics and art historians, that ‘all this is just visual, this is just motif, this is just pattern, this is fashion,’ because immediately fashion responded to these amazing works,” she says.

To help maintain social distancing during Moving Vision, OKCMOA is offering scheduled entries for patrons to see these works, and reservations will be available Feb. 21 through May 16 at okcmoa.com. Because of the nature of the exhibition, Najafi said it will be most valuable and understandable for those who witness these works to do so in person.

“At the end of the day, I want to say just come and enjoy, because these works will capture you,” she says. “There are no figures, right? There are no bodies in this. You are the figure in this exhibition, you are the body.”

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OUT & ABOUT

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Prime Picks A must-do calendar for January

BY BR ANDON KING

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Beaux Arts at 75

In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s original fundraiser – the Beaux Ball – the museum is presenting “Beaux Arts at 75.” The exhibition centers on 21 dazzling works, with an additional seven pieces on view in the Museum’s permanent collection galleries. Another eight related works will be on view beginning Feb. 20 as part of the new exhibition “Moving Vision: Op and Kinetic Art from the Sixties and Seventies.” Feb 20-April 25, 2021 okcmoa.com

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See You Soon

One of the premier showcases of modern multi-media art is the “Seeing Now” exhibition located at Oklahoma City’s 21c Museum Hotel. This selection of over two dozen artists’ contemporary art pieces revealed the hidden and visible forces that shape the human experience. Although it was scheduled to close this month, 21c Museum has chosen to keep the exhibition open until further notice. 21cmuseumhotels.com

Adults at the Factory

Factory Obscura would like you to reconsider working for the weekend. How about Thursday instead? During 3rd Thursday Adult Night, people 18 years or older can experience Factory Obscura’s downtown art collective by exploring the open-concept museum between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. This month will feature a sidewalk performance by the Endocrine Twins – a local masked duo combining pop, house and electronic dance music. factoryobscura.com 76

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Jazz it up

Instead of booking a trip for The Big Easy, spend an evening at the Oklahoma City Philharmonic for its production of “Ragtime and All That Jazz.” Experience the music created and inspired by artists such as Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton, while humming along to classics like “The Entertainer,” “Saint Louis Blues” and “Maple Leaf Rag.” Jan. 22 and 23, 8 p.m. okcphil.org

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A Classen Renaissance Revisiting a Googie-style blast from the past

BY GREG HORTON

he original Classen Inn at 820 N Classen Blvd. opened in 1962. Whatever glory days it might have had are lost to history, as evidenced by the only web search result: news of a prostitution and drug sting in the 1990s. Given that it’s one of OKC’s few remaining examples of Googie architecture, that was a sad narrative for a building constructed in an architectural style meant to convey hope for the future.

“I’m a preservationist at heart,” co-owner Steve Mason says. He and Aimee Ahpeatone bought the building in 2018. “I want to save these old buildings, and the Googie style is really beautiful – and because of how art ebbs and flows, Googie is back.”

Googie? No, that’s not Google misspelled.

Googie is a post-WWII architectural style that flourished in the 1960s, and then waned shortly after the moon landing. Anyone old enough to remember The Jetsons will at least be accidentally familiar with the look.

Alan Hess is the foremost expert on Googie design, and said that the style was created with average people in mind.

“One of the key things about Googie architecture was that it wasn’t custom houses for wealthy people – it was for coffee shops, gas stations, car washes, banks … the average buildings of everyday life that people of that period used and lived in. And it brought that spirit of the modern age to their daily lives,” Hess told Smithsonian Magazine.

Oklahoma City has had its share of examples, including the now-destroyed Founder’s Bank at 56th Street and May Avenue and the Gold Dome at 23rd Street and Classen Boulevard. The Founder’s Bank and the “wavy bank” on Classen Boulevard were destroyed in 2019.

Mason’s affection for old buildings has spared Classen Inn the same fate.

The roadside inn is now open again, featuring Beth Jansen’s execution of Aimee Ahpeatone’s

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ABOVE: A queen-size room at the Classen Inn. LEFT: A view of the Classen Inn exterior.

Classen Inn 820 N Classen Blvd, classeninn.com

design vision, and Dusty Gilpin’s art in the rooms and on the mural on the building’s north end. A superette – a traditional touch in these roadside motor inns – sells beer, wine and what Mason calls “unique snacks.” It’s open to the public, with a nice patio out front. And in a nod to modern sensibilities, the superette stocks local beers.

Mason said weekends are busy at the 17-room inn, but weekdays probably won’t pick up until COVID abates. “We don’t get a lot of business travel yet,” he says. “We’re getting staycation guests, though, and the 20-30 demographic loves

the architecture and design. It’s new to them.”

The rooms are funky, which is appropriate, but they’re also well-appointed and comfortable.

Revolucion and Sunnyside Diner are a short walk away, and Red Andrews Park is just over a couple of hills, making the inn much more conveniently located for foot travel than you’d expect. As for the building itself, it’s also the last motor inn in the urban core, so like Googie, it’s hoping to win a new generation of admirers with its whimsical, psychedelic approach to respite for car travelers.

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LOOKING BACK

Building on a Retail Legend, Part 2 The success and legacy of John A. Brown department stores

African-American children kneeling in the shoe department of John A. Brown Co. in protest of the store’s segregation policies.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Part 1 of this story was published in the December 2020 issue of 405 Magazine. It detailed the company’s creation and rise to prominence in the first part of the 20th century up to the death of John A. Brown in 1940. Part 2 examines the store’s growth and challenges through the 1970s.

klahoma City’s John A. Brown depa r tment store, renow ned for its customer service and the benevolence of founder John A. “Bert” Brown, opened in 1915 under the name Rorabaugh-Brown Company. But its growth and popularity was offset by challenges – most notably, the death of its founder and the company’s role in the Civil Rights movement in Oklahoma City.

Upon Bert Brown’s death in January 1940, his wife Della Brown, who had always played a supporting role, took over operations at John A. Brown Co. Making several shrewd business decisions early in her tenure, Brown cemented her position as one of the city’s most powerful businesswomen.

In 1958, Oklahoma City educator Clara Luper and the local youth chapter of the NAACP launched a series of lunch-counter sit-ins to protest Jim Crow laws that prevented their being served.

On Aug. 19, 1958, Luper and 13 Black youths entered Katz Drug in downtown Oklahoma City and sat at the lunch counter, waiting to be

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served. Within two days, management relented and served the children food and drink.

Luper next set her sights on the luncheonette at John A. Brown Co. What was resolved in two days at the Katz Drug Store stretched into years at John A. Brown.

On Aug. 22, 1958, 35 Black children arrived at the department store a little after 11 a.m. and sat quietly at the luncheonette for more than six hours. They were never served.

Protests and sit-ins continued for another two and a half years, when “a new group of protesters, predominantly white students and professors from the University of Oklahoma, began picketing the Brown’s College Corner store in Norman,” writes author Ajax Delvecki in his book John A. Brown’s, Kerr’s & Halliburton’s: Where Oklahoma City Loved to Shop.

Finally, in June 1961, Della Brown sent word that she wanted to meet with Clara Luper. Refusing at first, Luper relented and met with Brown the next week.

Luper detailed the visit in her biography Behold the Walls: “That day I was ready for Mrs. John A. Brown. All of the frustrations that had been

building in me for the last four years were going to come out right in her white face,” Luper wrote.

“When Mrs. Brown opened the door, we both stood speechless before each other with tears in our eyes, we embraced each other as if we had been friends for years.”

After an hour of talking, Della Brown had made a decision.

“Clara, day in and day out, I have worried about this thing. I just don’t know how to deal with it.

You see, Mr. Frank Wade has leased space in my store to operate the luncheonette and under his lease he has the sole right to run it in his own way,” Luper wrote of Della Brown. “Finally, she said, ‘Take this message back to the children. Segregation will end at John A. Brown’s.’ I was so proud of her. She admitted to me that the first time I was arrested, she called and offered to pay my bond.

She never missed calling to see if I (was) all right.”

From then on, Della Brown and Clara Luper maintained a close relationship.

John A. Brown Co. eventually was sold to Dayton-Hudson in January 1971, continuing to operate under the John A. Brown moniker. But the financial pressure caused by the Penn Square Bank scandal and the collapse of crude oil prices in the early 1980s led to the store’s demise. It ceased operations as John A. Brown Co. and was sold to Dillard’s in 1984.

P H O T O C O UR T E S Y O F T HE O K L A H O M A HI S T O R IC A L S O CIE T Y

BY MELISSA MERCER HOWELL

LAST LAUGH

Nostradamus and the Great Wall of Charmin Sunnier prognostications for the road ahead B Y L A U R E N R O T H | I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y G R E G W H I T E

ongratulations on making it to a new year! Going into 2021 reminds me of a tavern scene in the 1988 comedy The Great Outdoors, starring Dan Aykroyd and John Candy. At the local tavern, the pair meet “Lightning Rod Reg,” a twitchy guy with a severe stutter and dark hair that features a white “skunk stripe” down the middle – the result of having been struck by lightning 66 times! The barkeeper casually observes, “You’ll never meet a guy better tuned into the barometric pressure than Reg is … if you see him runnin’ like hell for home, you head for cover – right, Reg?” To play it safe, I just asked Siri what the barometric pressure will be in 2021.

If you’ve read this column for any length of time, you might recall that I usually love the psychic predictions that come out around New Year’s – outlandish forecasts that amuse me to no end. This year, however, I’m as jumpy as Lightning Rod Reg! Will 2021 be worse than 2020? Is this because I didn’t eat black-eyed peas on

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New Year’s Day? Every time I say, “This is the worst,” something worse happens, as if the universe is pointing out, “But wait … there’s more.”

Before I brace for impact, I thought it would be wise to consult the soothsayer of all soothsayers (no, not Miss Cleo), Nostradamus – the original Psychic Friend, the guy who was calling the shots long before the Magic 8 Ball overtook the fortune-telling market.

Nostra (his friends probably called him that) has had a remarkable 70 percent accuracy rate for his 6,338 written prophecies, which cut a wide swath through time from the mid-16th century to the year 3797. Reading between the tea leaves, I can infer from the 3797 date that at least the world won’t end on our watch. So that’s something.

One of the predictions did catch my attention: Nostra believed that a comet would hit the earth in 2022. If you thought the toilet paper hoarding is bad now, just wait until people decide to build the Great Wall of Charmin to protect themselves from the giant rock hurtling from space. My best advice? Don’t cheap out with off-brands, people!

If 2020 taught us anything besides how to Zoom, I hope we’ll carry its better lessons into the new year – the most important among them: spend more time at home with your family (however you define family). Get outside and feel the wind in your mask! PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE and play more board games!

Learn to bake or sew or River Dance. READ. Write a letter to an elderly friend or relative. Share your deepening appreciation for teachers with your own child’s teacher. If you’re homeschooling because of distance learning mandates, don’t sweat any kind of math that happens after fourth grade. (Disclaimer: liberal arts major here.)

I think that 2021, as an apology for 2020, owes us 12 months of laughter as repayment for all we’ve been missing. I hope that 2021 will also bring you and your loved ones peace, health, happiness and everything good. Cheers and love to you, dear readers! Happy New Year, everyone!

T H E O N E . T H E O N LY.

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